The Snow Storm
by azurefang
Summary: Elijah drives to Mystic Falls in a blizzard. He rescues a stranded woman whom he thinks he knows from somewhere.
1. Chapter 1

The Snow Storm

 _A/N Elijah drives to Mystic Falls in a blizzard. Along the way, he picks up a stranded woman whom he thinks he knows from somewhere. Elijah, Damon, Stefan_

Disclaimer: The Vampire Diaries does not belong to me. Original characters, such as Caroline Dutton, are mine.

"This was a stupid mistake," Elijah muttered to himself. "I should have postponed this trip for a couple of days, then I could have flown right into Charlottesville and rented a car there."

But he had left New Orleans and flown to a different airport where he had rented a car. The huge weather pattern was causing a raging snowstorm and he was driving in it, heading north to his destination. The storm was heading northeast and covering several states. The road he was on was not an Interstate highway, but rather a lesser one which went right to Mystic Falls, a short way south of Charlottesville, Virginia. Perhaps it did not matter which road he was on. They were all filling with snow and ice.

There was almost no traffic going either way and the vehicles he saw were trucks or SUVs with big tires. He was driving an SUV, but he hadn't looked at the tires. He had one advantage over the humans in other vehicles – he was a vampire and he would not freeze to death if he became stuck on this road. Nor would he die of exposure to carbon monoxide as a few people did when they ran the heater in their vehicle while the exhaust tailpipe was blocked by snow.

He didn't have a deadline by which time he had to be anywhere, therefore he was annoyed at the storm and at himself for not waiting a day or two. Staring through the windshield as the wipers swung back and forth, he found himself overtaking a car. To his surprise he saw it suddenly skid off the road and into deeper snow in a ditch. He did not want to stop to offer assistance, but his conscience made him carefully pull off the road, hoping not to slide into the ditch also. He parked and made his way to the vehicle as a women opened the door and got out.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "I mean, are you injured?"

"No, but look at this! I'm stuck. I wonder if I can get a tow truck to come get me out."

"Possibly, but it is likely that all tow trucks are in use. I can give you a ride. How far are you going?"

"Mystic Falls. It's about five or six miles up the road," the woman said, hugging her coat around her. Her scarf and her blonde hair were blowing in the snowy breeze.

"That is my destination, also. Come with me."

The woman looked hesitant, a worried frown on her face as her teeth chattered in the cold. Should she hop into the car of a man she didn't know? Was it safe?

"I promise I won't bite. I am merely offering you a ride."

"Alright. Thank you," she said as she started to shiver. "Let me get my purse and lock up."

In two minutes they were in Elijah's vehicle and he turned on the heat for her. He carefully pulled back onto the road and continued north.

"My name is Elijah."

"Caroline. Thanks for stopping and helping me."

"It is the least I could do. You might have been stranded for hours." He knew this young woman was not Caroline Forbes, who also lived in Mystic Falls. And yet, he felt he had seen her before. Perhaps he would recall where and when.

He had been driving for five minutes when he lost control of the vehicle. He wasn't going fast, but the SUV suddenly did not want to stay on the road. It turned slightly and slowly slid sideways on the black ice under the thin layer of snow. Elijah swore under his breath as he attempted to steer the vehicle in a way that would keep them on the road, but it was a wasted effort, for it slid to the shoulder and continued on until it ran broadside into some bushes and a slender, leafless tree.

"Damn!" Elijah and Caroline said at the same time.

 _A/N Because of the blizzards presently in the eastern U.S., the idea for this story occurred to me. Let's see where it goes._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _A/N First I have a question. When I was posting Chapter 1, I chose the characters to be listed, but once I posted the chapter, the names were not there. What happened? What am I doing wrong? Anyway, here is Chapter 2. I hope you like it._

"Now we're both stuck," the young woman observed. "At least the air bags didn't deploy and smack us in the face." She shifted to look around in the dim light of the storm and removed her cell phone from her purse. In a moment she muttered, "I should have charged it. If you hadn't come along, I doubt I could have called for help. I hope your cell is alright."

Elijah was about to reach for his phone when both of them gasped as the vehicle moved a few inches to the right.

"Don't move, Caroline!" Elijah warned. "Can you see past the bushes?"

She turned her head slowly and looked out the side window, which was mostly clear of snow. The wind driving the flakes was blowing against Elijah's window.

"I can barely see through this bush. There's a couple more just beyond. Oh my God! That's not a bush; it's the top of a tree! We're on a hillside!"

"I was concerned that we were. It's important that we stay still until we figure out how to get out without sending the car down into the hollow."

"I should have stayed with my car. At least it wasn't stuck on a hillside!"

Elijah could tell she was frightened and he couldn't blame her. Plunging down the steep slope would not kill him and any injuries would heal, but Caroline could suffer serious injuries or die. They needed to get out of the car.

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm turning off the heat and the engine. If we fall, we don't want the engine running. I'm going to open my door and see if I can ease outside and pull you with me."

He undid his seat belt so he could get out, but as soon as he opened the door a strong gust of wind drove into the vehicle along with snow, and the car shuddered and slipped.

Elijah jumped out, landing on the slope where they had first stopped. He heard Caroline scream as the SUV crushed the bush by the window and tipped, slowly rolling over. Resting on its roof, the driver's side door still open, it went downward, past the brush, rotated once as it bumped into a tree and continued into a snow-covered, hillside pasture, sliding along like a sled. It didn't stop until it came to rest against a large haystack. Three black cows, some snow on their backs, jumped away in alarm, but then stopped to stare.

Elijah immediately followed the car down the slope, hoping that Caroline was not injured. Slipping and sliding, partly on the seat of his pants, he came to where the SUV rested upside down. The snow was much deeper and he had to wade through it to get to the open door, which was partly blocked by snow and the hay. Bending down and looking inside, he found Caroline hanging upside down in her seatbelt. Kneeling down in the snow, he moved aside some of the snow and hay that had gone inside.

"Caroline, are you injured?" he asked. She turned her head toward him and he saw some blood on the side of her face. Since she was upside down, it was running into her hair. He thought she must have bumped against the window on her side. And indeed, she looked a bit stunned. "Caroline, can you hear me?"

"Yes. I'm a little dizzy. I hit my head."

"Any other injury?"

"I don't think so. The seat belt is hurting my shoulder."

"I'll get you free."

Getting into a position to release her seatbelt was not easy because the steering wheel on his side partly blocked him. Nevertheless, he wiggled in and was ready to release the strap from which her body was hanging.

"I'm going to release the seatbelt. I do not want you to fall on your head, so you need to use your arms to brace yourself. Can you do that?"

"I think so," she said and she put her hands against the roof, which at present was more like the floor.

Elijah had be press firmly to make the buckle release because of her weight pulling against it. When it let go and the straps sprang free, her body slumped downward. He reached out to help support her and to pull her toward him. In a moment she was kneeling on the roof, facing him.

"We need to get outside. I smell gas. I do not think the vehicle will catch fire, but we do not want to be inside." He backed out and she followed him, grabbing her purse as she came. They came up against the large mound of hay and huddled there on their knees for a moment. The wind whipped the snowflakes around them and blew wisps of hay about. The three cows, curious, moved closer.

Caroline touched gloved fingers to the wound on her right temple and the fingers came away bright red. "I'm bleeding. Is it as bright red as it looks to me?"

"Yes. There's an artery there and it is the one bleeding," Elijah said. He suddenly found himself hungry at the sight of the wound. Because he had been a vampire for so long his need for blood was minimal, but on occasion, he relished it. He had not had any for some time and now the lure of it was nagging at him. He reached out and pressed a finger to the wound, stopping the pulsing flow. He could also feel the swelling of blood under the skin. "You will not lose a lot of blood from this wound, but you are going to have quite a bruise."

"Can you bind it up? I have a scarf here," the woman said, indicating the red and blue wool scarf around her neck.

"Yes, if we put a pad of some sort over the artery for local pressure," he said. Despite the self-control that he normally had, the longing to taste the blood was overwhelming. "I can do more than that, if you will let me."

"What do you mean? Are you a doctor?"

"No, I am not a doctor, but I have had experience with wounds. I mean that I have special qualities in my saliva. Healing qualities."

"Your saliva! You want to put your saliva on my artery? That's crazy!" Caroline looked at him now with alarm on her face. She was now afraid of him. "That's gross! Don't touch me!"

Elijah let her pull away from him. Once his finger was removed, the artery sent out fine spurts of blood that landed on the white snow. Wonderful blood going to waste!

"I mean you no harm. I have no diseases. I am offering to use my unique saliva to heal the artery."

"I don't believe in unique saliva. I'm going to wrap this scarf around my head," she said nervously as she eyed the red spots on the snow and unwound the scarf from her neck.

Elijah managed to control his impulse to grab her and suck blood. Instead, he dug his cell phone out of his pocket. He could dial 911 for emergency help or he could call someone else. He was not sure that Damon Salvatore was still living in Mystic Falls or if he still had the same phone number, but he punched it in anyway.

"Hello, Elijah," came Damon's voice after two rings. "What's up?"

"I am south of town. I seem to have slid off the road on ice and am now down in some cow pasture."

"I'd think you'd know better than to be driving in a storm like this. It's getting worse. Are you asking me to go out into it and try to find you?" There was a snarky tone to his voice.

"I am."

"What do you think I drive, a snow plow?"

"I am not alone. I picked up a woman whose vehicle also slid off the road. Unfortunately, mine did the same not five minutes later. Hers is parked beside the road, while mine is not visible from the road."

"How am I supposed to find you and her if I can't see you? The way the snow if blowing around and drifting, I might not even see where you went over the side. I mean, if I was even stupid enough to go looking for you."

"The woman has an injury and might freeze to death if we stay here too long."

"Have you called 911?"

"Not yet. I decided to try you first." Elijah was annoyed and knew he had made a mistake calling the Salvatore brother. His idea was to avoid publicity if an ambulance had to come get Caroline.

"I'll call 911 and see if they can get an emergency team out there. Maybe they can follow a plow. If one is willing to head your way."

"This is a main road into town. They should have a plow come this way or there are going to be several vehicles stuck," Elijah argued. He was cold, but it was no danger to him. The woman, however, was shivering as she tried to tie the scarf around her forehead. He didn't think she was doing it right and wanted to do it for her, but she was leaning away from him with a determined look on her face.

"In the meantime, why don't you hug her to your warm body. Give her comfort. Have a snack," Damon said and he ended the call. Damon knew perfectly well that Elijah, like all vampires, had very little bodily warmth.

Elijah gritted his teeth with annoyance. He wondered if Damon would really call 911. Rather than take a chance that he would not, Elijah made the call, reporting where he was, approximately.

"Alright. Help will come," he said to the woman who was shivering despite the warm coat, scarf, gloves, jeans and boots she was wearing. "We need shelter," he added, standing up and walking around the hay stack. The cows were close by watching him. They moved away a little as he stood there looking for any sign of farm buildings. He didn't see any, although there could have been some hidden by the increasing snowfall. The cattle were not dairy cows and did not need a barn for milking. The wind was whipping the snow past him from up on the road. Except for the whistle of wind gusts, there was silence. He moved to the downwind side of the hay stack. With most hay being put into bales these days, he was pleased this hay was in an old-fashioned stack.

"Where are you going? Please don't leave me," Caroline said, preferring to be with this strange man than to be alone.

"There is some shelter on the other side of the hay," he told her as he returned. "Let us move over there and burrow inside a bit. You'll be warmer." He held out a hand, which she grasped and she got to her feet.

"I'm still a little dizzy," she said, swaying a bit. "My purse. Can you grab it?"

Elijah reached down into the snow and lifted the expensive leather purse, knowing such things were important to a woman. He then helped her go around the haystack to the side not covered with the driving snow. He quickly dug into the hay, making a shallow cave into which they could huddle. There even seemed to be some heat inside.

"This won't collapse and smother us, will it?" she asked, backing into the hay. "Not that I care at the moment. It feels good to be out of the wind."

"I believe we are safe," Elijah assured her as he too wiggled into a sitting position close beside her. How long would it take for help to come?

 _A/N It almost makes me cold just writing this. I am not a winter person._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

For a minute they sat there in silence. The wind made the snow flakes swirl around the entrance to their shelter, making the beginning of a drift.

"Do you live in Mystic Falls?" he finally asked.

"Yes. I moved there about six months ago."

"What drew you to such a small place? The community college?"

She seemed hesitant to answer, but then she said, "Research. Curiosity."

"About what, if I may ask."

"The town's reputation. The mystique."

"Mystic Falls has a mystique?" He knew it did. A dangerous mystique.

"It's one of those places that supposedly attracts the supernatural. I think you know what I mean."

"I know it is a place that has suffered many a mishap or disaster," Elijah said carefully. Since she had been living in the town for several months, he had to assume that she was using vervain in some form. The thought of sampling her blood had occurred to him briefly, but now he thought it might not be a good idea.

"Elijah is not a common name, but I read about one associated with Mystic Falls. Would you be Elijah Mikaelson by any chance?" she asked in a tentative voice.

"And if I was?"

"On one hand, I'd be impressed. On the other hand, I guess it would be wise to admit to myself that I am in danger. And not in a manner I thought." She didn't look at him, but instead stared out the opening at the swirling snow. One of the cows had come closer and was staring intently at the people hiding in the hay.

"Why did you call Damon Salvatore first?"

"I prefer not to call attention to myself. The media often follow emergency vehicles."

"Oh. For someone who prefers not to be noticed, you and your prominent family seem to draw attention all the time. A mansion. Parties."

"Frequently, I'm afraid." That was especially true of the family's presence in New Orleans lately. He still had no idea just how much she knew about the Mikaelsons.

A brief period of silence followed again. One of the cows moved even closer and snatched a mouthful of hay. It stood there, chewing and staring at the people. Elijah suspected that the hay was from the hillside, and rather than bale it, the owner had just made an old- fashioned haystack.

"You will be in danger of hypothermia after a while," Elijah reminded her. "Also, your wound is still bleeding." He could see that the scarf was absorbing the blood, but was not stopping the bleeding.

She touched the scarf where it was supposed to be putting pressure on her wounded artery. When she looked at the fingers of her gloves, she saw bright blood.

"I can help. I can heal it. My saliva and blood contain healing factors."

"Then you're really a vampire, aren't you?"

"Yes." He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was afraid of him, but was trying not to show it. "If you are studying the supernatural and moved to Mystic Falls to pursue that interest, then you know that vampires exist. You must believe it."

"Yes. I guess so. But you are the first I have actually met and have spoken to. The first to admit he is one."

"I am not ashamed of what I am. However, I prefer not to openly admit it to everyone. Surely you can understand that."

"Yeah, I do. And your saliva could heal my wound immediately?" She again touched the sore spot and grimaced.

"Nearly so, but my blood would be better."

"How? I mean, blood from where? You would cut yourself?"

"I would. Then you would have to ingest a small amount." He saw her swallow a couple of times. Was she nauseated and about to gag or vomit?

"Would I turn into a vampire? I don't want to do that," she said nervously.

"No, you would not. Unless you died during the next twenty-four hours or so. I do not believe you will die from that small bleeding artery, and if we are rescued soon, you will not die of hypothermia."

"Well, I suppose that's good news. A bit blunt, but truthful."

When she was silent for a minute, he asked, "How did you develop an interest in studying vampires and witches?"

"At first from reading several fiction books. Then a friend told me she had had a friend who was a vampire and he had been killed in Mystic Falls. There is a course on the supernatural at the community college there. They pretend there is truly no such thing as supernatural beings, but the professor goes into the various myths and legends."

"A great many people do not believe it. Many citizens of Mystic Falls who used to live there are now dead because they chose to pretend they were safe."

"The vampires killed them?"

"Not normal vampires. And not normal witches. It was others."

"There is such a thing as abnormal vampires?" She looked at him with interest. It finally occurred to her that she was with an expert in the subject which she was studying.

"Yes. I am not 'normal' in that I was not created from another vampire's blood. My family was made into vampires by a strong witch's spell. We call ourselves the Originals."

"I've heard of you and your family. Read some about y'all. I really am impressed to be with you, Elijah. Scared, but impressed."

"Where did you read about us?" he asked, always wary of what information was made public.

"The files of the local newspaper. On the Internet. The Mikaelson Family Philanthropic Foundation. You have never looked that up?"

"Yes, I have. I am on the Board of Trustees, but I rarely am involved. Excellent people run the Foundation."

"Well, there is minimal information about you and your siblings included on the site," Caroline said. "Nothing about vampires, of course."

"Then where did you learn that fact?"

"From some people who know. The site said you are of Viking descent. Born in England. Traveled with your parents, who are now gone. Two of your brothers have passed away in recent years. In Mystic Falls, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know you still lived here." Her enthusiasm picked up as she talked to this famous vampire.

"I do not. I am presently residing in New Orleans."

"Another city known for its supernatural inhabitants," Caroline said, nodding. "The Salvatore brothers are also here. You phoned Damon Salvatore who is rumored to be a vampire."

"We are acquainted, yes. It would be difficult for two such families to live in a small town and not know each other."

"Are many vampire families wealthy?"

"I am not going to answer any more questions unless you let me treat your wound. The artery is still bleeding and the sight of blood affects me. You do not want me to consider sucking you dry, do you?"

"No!" A shocked expression came to the woman's face. She reached up again, touched the scarf and then felt a stream of blood ooze down the side of her face. "You would do that?" she stammered.

"You know that is a false belief."

"What?"

"That a vampire can really suck all the blood out of a person. He can take enough to cause death, but much blood will remain in the body."

"Oh, that's good to know," she said with some sarcasm as her shock lessened. "But the person would still be dead."

"True. Are you going to let me heal you?"

"I suppose I have no choice. What are you going to do?"

"I will make a small wound in my forearm and you will swallow the blood," he said as he removed his left glove. He pulled up the left sleeves of his overcoat and suit coat and undid the cuff button of his white shirt. After putting his lips to his wrist, he let down his fangs and used them to make two small punctures in the skin. Wounding himself did not feel good, but the pain was very minor. Venous blood, not arterial blood, welled up.

"Quickly lick it up before the blood congeals and the wound heals," he ordered, holding his left arm out toward her face.

Caroline grimaced, but leaned forward and put her mouth over the wound. She licked the blood up and managed to swallow it. It tasted like normal blood, metallic, but it was quite cool. It made her tongue tingle and despite the coolness and the small amount, it felt warm in her stomach.

"That's enough," Elijah said. He looked at his wrist where there was still some blood on his skin. He licked it clean so that the cuff of his shirt, suit coat and overcoat did not become stained. He didn't like his clothes to get bloody, although they did when he went on a killing spree, which was rare. Satisfied, he buttoned the shirt cuff and pulled the sleeves down.

"Let us take that scarf off. It is saturated with blood. It will freeze in this cold air." He removed his other glove, not wanting to get it bloody.

Caroline let him unwrap the scarf, already cold and stiff. Several drops of blood fell onto her coat, but she didn't care. He pushed the scarf into the hay behind her.

"How does it look?" she asked as he eyed the wound.

"It is closing," he said as he put his gloves back on. "No more bleeding. You will still have a large bruise and lump on your temple for a while." He could see that she had a band of smeared blood all across her forehead from the saturated scarf. He had the opportunity to taste it. He wanted to taste it. Very much.

 _A/N I hope you all liked this chapter. I'm working on the next one. Thanks to everyone who is reading the story and to those of you who favorited it._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"How long have you been out of town?" he asked, remembering that she was probably on vervain. He drew his gloves back on.

"About ten days. Why?"

"As a new student of vampirism, why do you think I would ask?" He wondered how much truth there was in her answers. Originally, she had seemed uninformed about vampires, but then she had admitted to studying them. She likely knew more than she had revealed.

Caroline frowned slightly, trying to guess what he meant. Then the answer came to her. "You are wondering if I have vervain in my blood, aren't you? Are you now thinking of biting me? You said you wouldn't!"

"I will not. But if you do not want to have to explain all the blood on your forehead, I should lick it from your skin."

"That's disgusting! I'm sorry, but it is." She also thought it was a set-up for him to bite her, even though he said he would not. There was no real reason to trust him.

"I suppose it is to you. Perhaps you could rub some of the blood off with snow."

Caroline reached outside their cubby hole and picked up some snow. She tried to used it to wipe her forehead, but it was cold and actually removed very little of the smeared blood.

"It's not working, is it?" she asked, looking at her companion.

"No. Not really."

"Oh, what the hell, go ahead. Lick it off. Just don't bite me. Please."

"I will not bite," he said again and he leaned close. He saw her close her eyes as his tongue came out and he began to lick up the blood. It was cold, but it tasted good.

"I can't believe I'm letting him do this. I can't believe it," she murmured to herself as she felt like a cat being groomed by another cat. Her mother's two cats did that.

He heard what she was saying and he found it humorous. He wanted very much to bite her and lick up fresh blood, but he restrained himself. Nevertheless, the almost-fresh blood gave him a ripple of pleasure throughout his body.

"Your tongue is cold." She could feel the slightest hint of beard when his skin touched hers, although he appeared clean-shaven. And those would-be fangs were so close! It was also interesting that he seemed to have no scent. He wore no aftershave or cologne, did not smell of alcohol or cigarettes or coffee. No man-scent or sweat. Did vampires sweat?

"I am not known for my body heat," he said as he finished with her forehead. His tongue removed the small line of blood that had run down the side of her face. "I am not going to lick the blood and clots from your hair."

"Ugh! My hair is gross now! How will I explain that to the EMTs if they ever get here?"

"If Damon rescues us first, you will not have to explain it to anyone." He sat back so that he was not crowding her in the close space. He thought she was pretty with green eyes, dark, medium-length hair and a slightly upturned nose. Who did she remind him of? Or where had he seen her before? The questions nagged at him.

She picked up her purse, rummaged inside and removed a tiny perfume bottle. In a moment she had taken off one glove and put a touch of the perfume on her neck. "This hay gives us shelter, but it doesn't smell very good. Or maybe it's the cow patties around here. I think the snow doesn't cover the smell."

He didn't answer. Instead, he gasped. The scent of the perfume, perhaps of lilac and something else, had a strong effect on him, almost overwhelming. Giselle! The person Caroline reminded him of. The person she now smelled like. Oh yes, Giselle and he had had some exquisite intimacy together many years in the past! The memories rushed back and his groin responded to them. He felt a sudden, urgent desire to take Caroline sexually, whether she wanted him to do so or not. The very essence of his vampirism tingled and flamed throughout his body as his heart thumped within his chest.

Attempting to be free of the scent and the urges, he scooted quickly out of the hay and stood up, his back to Caroline and his overcoat hugged tightly around him. He was certainly physically aroused and it was showing no sign of abating. The scent of the perfume was in his nose, in his brain and the memories of Giselle were vivid in his mind. All of his senses were enhanced by what he was.

He had no doubt that if he tried to recapture the three or four days and nights he had spent with the beautiful female vampire, if he tried the many exciting and violent acts he and the female had practiced, he would kill Caroline. It had been one of the most physically enjoyable and abandoned pleasures and pain he had ever experienced. While doing those things, they had bitten each other many times and taken each others' blood. Vampire blood in full lust! No gentleness or love involved.

If he dragged Caroline from the haystack and "had his way with her," she would be tortured and surely killed, and he would be as ashamed of that as he had been eons ago when he had killed the woman he had really loved, and horrified, he had gone to his mother with what he had done and she had put a curse on him.

He stood in the cold wind and blowing snow, his dark hair ruffled and collecting white flakes. He had his hands in his overcoat pockets and pressed down on his aroused private parts, willing the reaction to go away. With his back to Caroline, she could not see his distressed expression or what he was doing. She could not see the dark lines in his face or the faint glow of his eyes. Or the fangs.

Knowing that he had summoned help, which probably would arrive soon, he desperately wanted to get himself under control. Although he tended to show people respect and to keep his emotions in check, there were rare times when he let himself give in to his savage nature. In his long life he had willingly committed torture and murder. He was a vampire and could be a very cruel one if he lost control. And on a very few occasions, when he lost control of himself, he had committed rape. He didn't like that part of his nature at all, but it most certainly was there.

"Elijah, what's the matter? Does the perfume smell too strong for your vampire sense of smell?" the woman asked, peeking out at him.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I never thought about that. Maybe I can wipe it off with some snow."

"That likely will not be sufficient. I will stand out here." The wind buffeted him and swirled the snow around him, even landing on his eye lashes.

"You'll freeze out there."

"No, I will not. Do not worry about me." He was dressed warmly, but it did not really make any difference. The cold would not harm him. He wished the cold would stifle the reaction he had.

Help came from an unexpected source. The three cows were fairly close, having decided that he posed no danger. They wanted to have access to the good hay that would fuel their body heat. The one standing closest to him felt a natural urge, lifted her tail and deposited a steaming pile of manure not four feet from where he stood. The wind swirled the aroma up into the air around him. He inhaled and the scent covered that of the perfume. Back in the horse-and-buggy days, the smell of animals and their byproducts had been common, everyday occurrences to him and he didn't mind. Now, he welcomed it. The odor masked that of the perfume, and the overwhelming memory of Giselle faded quickly. His arousal subsided and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ugh! That stinks!" Caroline gasped as the smell swirled into her shelter.

"It is better than the smell of that perfume." He turned around to look down at her.

"I'm sorry, but this is actually expensive perfume! I'm sure the makers would be very insulted to find that you preferred the stink of cow poop."

"They surely would be. There is just no accounting for taste," he said with the barest hint of humor. "It is not your fault that I reacted negatively to it."

"I should have asked first. I know some people are allergic to perfume. It didn't occur to me that a vampire would have allergies."

"Rather than a true allergy, the reaction is usually tied to some horrific occurrence from the past." He did not consider his time with Giselle horrific. He worried that what he might have done to Caroline, a human, would be horrific.

"More of a 'flashback'?"

"Yes. More like that," Elijah admitted. He stood looking down at her, but made no move to go back into the shelter. The cows moved in close again and began pulling mouthfuls of hay from the stack. He could feel the heat radiating from their bodies. Caroline could use that heat, but he suspected that the cows would not allow hugging.

After a minute of silence, he asked, "Caroline, do you know anything about your family tree?"

"Some. Why?" she asked, surprised by the change of subject.

"You remind me of someone I knew long ago."

"How many years ago? I only know my ancestors going back about two hundred years. I mean, I don't recall all the names, but I have a chart my mother made once. She was really into that stuff at the time."

"About two hundred years is right. Her name was Giselle LaPorte."

"Oh wow! I have LaPortes on my mother's side! Way back. And I know there was more than one Giselle. Three, I believe, down through the years, including my great grandmother. Maybe you could add something to my family tree's history!"

"I doubt it. I only knew Giselle for a short time. You bear quite a resemblance to her, or what I recall of her." He wondered if it was possible that Caroline was a doppelganger of Giselle as Elena Gilbert was of Katerina.

"Incredible!"

"Did she have any children? She must have had if she is one of your ancestors." He could not recall the long ago woman having mentioned having children. He did not recall her having an stretch marks from a pregnancy, but maybe she had had them and they had disappeared when she had changed. Obviously, she had given birth to no more children once she became a sterile vampire.

"Of course she must have had at least one, because she is definitely in my ancestry. Isn't that remarkable?"

"Yes, it certainly is. It is also remarkable that her features have come down through the years to you."

"That is so cool. And to think I have run into the one person who could have known her."

"Was there a date of death for her in your mother's research?" He thought he had heard that Giselle had been killed a couple of months after he had spent time with her.

"I don't remember. I'd have to look it up. Do you want me to?"

"No. It was long ago and no longer matters." Giselle might have been gone nearly two hundred years, but her memory lived on in his head. He had forgotten her, but it had only taken the scent of a certain herbal perfume to bring back that strong memory of her face, her body and how she had affected him.

Then, on a gust of snowy wind, he heard a voice calling. " Elijah? Where are you?"

 _A/N I hope you all liked this chapter. And thank you to all who have been following the story and to those who have commented, which encourages me to keep going._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Damon! This way." The Original was relieved to have something draw him from his memories of the past.

"Keep talking. I can't see ten feet in front of me," Damon called, his voice carried on the wind.

In less than a minute, Damon Salvatore, wearing a hooded, puffy coat, gloves, black jeans and boots came out of the blizzard and into view. The cows moved away a short distance. "Man, it's really coming down, but I made out where your car broke through the bushes. Didn't you say there was a woman with you? She didn't get killed when your vehicle rolled over, did she?" He was looking at the wrecked, upside down SUV.

"No. She is in the haystack. Caroline, we are rescued." He bent down and offered a hand, which she took. Soon she was standing outside, her purse clutched in the other hand. Because she was not wearing a hat, the wind blew her hair about, except where blood had plastered it to her scalp.

Elijah made the introductions and the two people shook hands. Damon didn't ask about the traces of blood on her face or the clots in her hair. Although he had never spoken to her, he thought he had seen her a time or two around town. He could tell she was not one of the Heretics.

"Let's get out of here before someone runs into the vehicle I left on the road," Damon urged.

"Let me get the bags," Elijah said and he attempted to open one of the rear doors to the SUV. He tried each side and the back, but the frame was bent and the only door that was open was the driver's one. He crawled inside and managed to reach not only his own travel bag, but also the one Caroline had tossed in back from her car.

"Are you all right?" Damon asked the woman. She was shivering and her teeth chattering, and he suspected this was not just from the cold.

"Yes. A bit sore and bruised and I have a headache, but I'm surprisingly alright," Caroline said. She knew who and what he was, but she had previously never made any attempt to talk to him or his younger brother. She now trusted Elijah, but could she trust this other handsome vampire?

Although Elijah and Damon could have moved up to the road in a blur, perhaps carrying the woman as well as the luggage, some time was spent working their way on foot back up the slope. When they arrived up at the road, there were an emergency medical vehicle and the sheriff's car parked there. Sheriff Matt Donovan was standing at the top of the slope as they reached it. He and the EMTs could see the blood on Caroline.

"The bleeding has stopped," Elijah explained. "A small wound in her hair."

The EMTs wanted to examine the cut, but Caroline insisted that she was fine, that she would wash her hair and the wound when she got home, and they stopped trying to treat her.

In the meantime, Elijah explained to the sheriff what had happened and that his rented vehicle was ruined. He said he would notify the insurance company. In the meantime, he would like to go with Damon to get to shelter so that Caroline could warm up. Matt agreed to let them go. He said that he would see that a tow truck hauled her car out of the place where it was stuck.

While they were talking, a call came in for the EMTs to move to another site a little farther south when they were finished at the present site. Since there was nothing they could do for Elijah and Caroline, they left the scene. Matt followed.

"I did not know you drove one of these," Elijah observed as he helped Caroline climb up into the back seat of a crew-cab pickup truck raised up over the tires.

"I don't. I borrowed this from a neighbor just down the street from my house," Damon said as he climbed in. "Where do you want to go? My house or yours?"

"What is the situation at yours?" Elijah asked, buckling his seatbelt.

"At the moment, all is calm. No one but the regulars. Minus Elena, of course."

Elijah knew Elena Gilbert was in a state of suspended animation and lying as if dead in a coffin. He was aware of what had happened to cause that situation. The Mikaelsons might reside at present in New Orleans, but they knew some of what was going on in the little Virginia town where they had lived for a couple of years. Klaus still owned the mansion he had completely renovated. Supposedly, the only people living there were a man and his wife who where taking care of the place, but Klaus had been suspected that there was trouble there.

"Something is going on at our house, so I would rather go to yours initially, if we may," he said as Damon eased the vehicle into the center of the road. The snow was only a few inches deep, but he was wary of the ice underneath. There were curves in the road which he could not see through the driving snow. The tracks of the emergency response vehicles were the only ones not filled with snow on the road and he followed them.

"You can take me home," Caroline said. "I live out on the north side of town." She was not comfortable going to the home of either vampire.

"There was another accident out that way," Damon said. "I don't think we can get through yet. My house is closer, just up ahead."

Caroline hesitated before answering. "Alright. I could use some hot tea and a chance to sit near some heat." The heat was on in the truck and it was beginning to ease her chill.

"I have a great fireplace with some nice logs burning," Damon said. "This kind of weather calls for that."

"That's the truth," Caroline agreed. "I know you don't worry about the cold harming you, but do you prefer the warmth?"

"Who are you asking?" Damon wondered aloud.

"Either of you."

"Caroline is a student of us vampires," Elijah informed his vampire companion.

"Oh? Me, I prefer to be warm," Damon said.

"Since most vampire do not go out in the sun, I suppose being near a fire must be quite nice for warmth."

"So is a warm summer night," Damon assured her. "But the daylight doesn't bother me, so I can go out in the sunshine."

"I was told some of you wear some sort of jewelry or talisman to protect you. Is that so?" she asked.

"Yes," Elijah said, although since he was not a normal vampire, he actually had some inborn protection from the sun. Without his ring, his exposed skin would burn superficially, but he would not die from the painful injury and he would heal quickly.

"How would you know what items would protect you?" Caroline asked, imagining them seeking everywhere for such protection.

"Any item that has the proper spell on it," Damon said. "Especially something containing the blue stone lapis lazuli." This was not the first time he had been asked such questions. It was like being interviewed.

"A spell as performed by a witch?"

"Yes," Damon said, squinting his eyes to see a curve in the road. The wind buffeted the vehicle and he hoped not to hit slick ice. Even at his slow speed, the truck moved sideways slightly. "My neighbor will be pissed if I put this truck in a ditch or roll it."

"I too might be rather annoyed if you do such a thing," Elijah told him. He was not in a mood to deal with the storm. Caroline's perfume, although subtle, was in his nose again, but this time he was prepared and kept any reaction in check. It always disturbed him if he did not have control over all his body parts. Still, he wanted to get to a place where he could put some distance between them.

Caroline had not forgotten that it bothered him. "Are you alright, Elijah? I mean about the perfume?" She was relaxing more with warmth and the conversation.

"Do not concern yourself. We will be at Damon's house soon."

Damon glanced briefly at Elijah and wondered what that was all about. He could smell the perfume, but it meant nothing to him. Close ahead of him, the wind twisted a tree and it came crashing down, blocking half of the road. It was a good thing that he was driving so slowly, and he muttered a curse as he slowly drove around it.

"This is an awful storm," Caroline commented, suddenly nervous again.

"You think?" Damon snarked.

Although it was mid-afternoon, the heavy clouds, the snow and the short days of winter made what was left of the day dark. As they crept into the town limits, the street lights were automatically on, but even as they watched, the lights went out.

"Do you think that is because of the fluctuating daylight or because a tree has taken out a power line?" Elijah wondered aloud.

"With our luck, it's the power line and my house will be dark," Damon muttered. He didn't really care, since the house had some battery-operated lights, candles and the fireplaces. However, now he had a human house guest. Well, she was dressed warmly and could keep her coat on. Actually, he figured the furnace in the basement would deep going because it ran on gas, not electricity. Of course, the thermostats that triggered the furnace were electric, but with luck the cold would keep it on.

"Do you still have your housekeeper?" Elijah asked, his thoughts running along the same line. He knew the woman Mrs. Flowers ran the place whether Damon and Stefan were there or not.

"No. She left for safety reasons when the Heretics threatened the town," Damon said. "It's a good thing because that murderous bunch took over our house. My mother in particular."

"They controlled your mother?" Elijah asked, surprised. "In what way?"

"No. I mean they were under her control. Lily hasn't been dead and buried these last hundred and sixty-odd years like I thought. She became a vampire! Which my father failed to mention when he told my brother and me that she had died in a hospital. She's one of the leaders of the Heretics. But she's dead now and 'good riddance.'"

Elijah looked at Damon's face and saw the disgust on his face. He didn't know why Damon felt that way about his mother, but he, Elijah, certainly knew how dangerous, deceitful and vengeful a mother could be.

"Why would you say that about your mother?" Caroline asked. She had always had a good relationship with her mother, even when she was a willful teenager.

"Dear Mom was supposed to have died way back when we were kids, as I said, but she ran off as a vampire. Abandoned my brother and me and her husband. And when she made her recent return, she claimed she didn't even remember me or my brother. What kind of mother is that?" he growled.

"But now she's dead and you can't forgive her?" Caroline asked, not sure if she should feel sorry for the boys abandoned by their mother or feel disgusted with his attitude.

"I don't want to forgive her. I don't think she deserves it," Damon said.

There was silence in the truck for a few minutes. The vehicle skidded around slightly, but Damon kept it on the road. They passed no other cars except one off the road with no one in it. As they crept up a rise in the road, they overtook a man walking, hunched over against the wind.

"Do I stop and pick him up?"

"There's room," Elijah said and he watched as Damon pulled up beside the man. The Original opened his window as the man turned to stare at him. "Go around the other side and get in the backseat." When the man disappeared around the back, Elijah closed the window.

In a minute the stranger was in the back seat beside Caroline. "Thanks," the fellow said.

"I can't take you to your place right now," Damon said. "We'll be coming to my house in a minute and that's as far as we go. You're welcome to come inside."

"Appreciate it, but where I'm heading is right around here somewhere."

"Oh really? What address?"

The man gave the street number.

"That's my house," Damon said, now wary.

 _A/N So, does this man mean trouble for the group? Is he seeking Damon, Stefan or the Heretics who have occupied the house? Is Caroline safe with him?_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"What's your name?" the older Salvatore brother asked as he cautiously drove.

"Dodge. I'm a follower of Lily. Are you? You don't look familiar."

"I know Lily," Damon said, not very happy that he had picked up a Heretic.

"I was in Atlanta when she called me and gave me the address. I got delayed there, but I finally made it."

"Then you're a Heretic."

"Yeah. You aren't?"

"No. I'm one of Lily's sons. Her _real_ sons."

"Oh yeah? I didn't know she had any sons from the past. I mean that would still be around."

"Well, I'm here. And as for my mother, she's dead."

Dodge was quiet for a long moment, absorbing this information. The other three people waited to see how he would react to this news. Caroline was the one who was nervous about the situation. She felt very unsafe. It was bad enough when she was alone with the vampire Elijah. Then she was in the truck with two vampires, the second being Damon. Now she was with someone who was one of those dangerous Heretics. She was the only vulnerable human in the group. Was she a lamb going to slaughter?

"Are the others at the house?" Dodge finally asked.

"No, if you mean Heretics."

"Do you still want me in your house?"

"If you're willing to agree to a truce," Damon said, not liking this turn of events.

"I am. Don't like this storm." He glanced at the woman beside him, but then ignored her. "What happened to Lily?"

"Actually, she killed herself. It's a complicated story, but let's not talk about her for now."

Caroline watched Dodge out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't look at her. He was frowning and kept his eyes on the two men in the front seats. Was he considering attacking either of them? Was he wondering if they were going to kill him? Would he open the door and jump out? She glanced at him again and saw that he was looking at the back of Elijah's head and the side of his face that he could see. A hint of a smile touched the corner of his mouth and she suddenly wondered if he was gay and was appreciating Elijah's handsome face. For some unexplained reason, she felt a moment of jealousy, as if Elijah was hers because she had seen him first and she had actually tasted his blood. Then she berated herself for such a thought. She had no claim on the vampire and he had no interest in her, a stranded woman he had rescued. And besides, maybe she was jumping to a conclusion about Dodge's possible inclination.

Outside, the amount of snow falling diminished, although the wind continued to drive snow across the road. Visibility increased and Damon was better able to see where he was going. His headlights picked out his own mailbox and snow-covered shrubs in front of his house. The yellow light of candles shown in some of the windows as he turned into the driveway, parking behind the red Porsche that belonged to his brother. The car had drifted snow on parts of it.

"Home sweet home," he said as he turned off the engine. "Everyone out."

Elijah got out, helped Caroline to the ground and then proceeded to get the luggage from the open back of the truck. Caroline joined him and reached for her bag, but he told her he would carry both. Dodge had a duffle bag, which he had kept on his lap and which he now kept with him. While Dodge hesitate for a moment, the group of three trudged to the front porch and Damon used his key to open the door. Nice warm air washed over him as he pushed it open and stepped inside.

"Everyone inside before we lose heat," he said, and they all hurried inside except Dodge, who had hurried after them when he realized he didn't know where else to go.

"Can I come in?" he asked. Being a vampire he wondered if he needed a human to invite him in. He held out a hand and felt no barrier.

"The lady of the house has left. Get in here," Damon ordered.

"Hello," the brother Stefan said. "I was expecting Elijah, but you seem to have gathered more folks. Y'all come into the study and warm up."

Elijah helped Caroline remove her coat which was over a dark blue sweater. "Perhaps you would like to use the powder room to wash your face and some of your hair."

"I could certainly use the powder room anyway," she said and was surprised that Elijah handed her his phone with the bright light lit and he pointed to the door down the hall. She concluded that he knew the house well. She and the phone headed down the hall.

Removing his overcoat as well, Elijah joined the three men in the study lit by half a dozen candles and the fire in the fireplace.

"Dodge, this is my brother Stefan," Damon said. "Stef, Dodge is one of Lilly's people."

"Oh? Really?" Stefan said, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

"I'm not entirely up on what's been going on in this town," Dodge said. "I was told in a text message to come to this address. Are any of the Heretics here?" He noticed that the young man was quite good-looking. In fact, he noticed that all three of his male companions were handsome. He reminded himself that they were vampires and likely not friends of the Heretics.

"No. Not at the moment," Stefan answered his question.

"Are they at our house?" Elijah asked his host. "The caretakers have not returned any

calls or texts."

"They may be," Damon said. "We haven't been over there. They take over any house they like. Who wants what to drink?" He was always ready to consume some good liquor. As the men said what they wanted, he poured.

"I get the feeling none of you are on friendly terms with Lily's group," Dodge said as he sipped his drink.

"We aren't," Stefan said.

"You probably should seek out Julian," Damon said. "He's running the show."

"Where would I find him?"

Damon suggested places where he knew the present head Heretic hung out, partying. He wanted to get rid of Dodge, considering him one of the enemy, but he was careful around him. He had to assume that the man had powers of magic. "If the storm lets up, which I think it already is, I'll drive you into the center of town and you can find them."

"Okay," Dodge said. He was concerned about his own safety and would prefer to be with his own kind, the Heretics, that is. He saw no sign that any of the three men were interested in him in a particular way.

His concern was justified. Elijah was wondering if holding Dodge captive would give them some bargaining power with the Heretics. However, he didn't know if Dodge was of any importance. If not, perhaps the group would leave him to his fate. And while he was a captive, he might cause magic problems. In addition, Elijah caught him giving him a look that suggested Dodge had other interests which did not appeal to Elijah, at least not at this time.

With no one showing any positive interest in him, the Heretic was nervous and he went to a window that looked out onto the front porch. "The snow has really let up," he observed. "How far is it to that bar?"

Damon told him and joined him looking out the window where cold air seemed to permeate right through the glass. Although it was dark beyond the window, they could tell by the blowing snowflakes that the heavy snowfall had abated, at least for the present.

"I can walk. I sure as hell won't freeze to death," Dodge snarked.

"Hey, if you don't want our friendly company, feel free to leave."

"I will. Thanks for the ride and the drink."

Damon and the others watched Dodge take his duffle bag and go out the front door. They were relieved to be rid of him.

"We could have killed him," Stefan offered just as Caroline walked back into the room and noticed that the man was not in the room.

"He left?" she asked.

"I don't think he liked our company," Damon said.

"Were you really considering killing him?" she asked Stefan.

"The thought crossed my mind. It doesn't matter now," Stefan said.

"Are you warmer now?" Elijah asked her, much more interested in her than the man.

"Yes. And it was so nice to have hot water to wash with. I tried to get the blood out of my hair, but I couldn't get it all."

"It appears you removed most of it." He liked the way the candlelight reflected off her hair. In this subdued lighting, she looked more like Giselle than before.

She handed the phone back to Elijah and thanked him for its use.

"What would you like to drink?" Damon asked her.

"I would love a hot cup of tea."

"Alright. Come on back to the kitchen. I know Mrs. Flowers has a supply of tea there," Damon said and he led the way. Two candles in wall sconces lit the long hall and at the end one candle lit the kitchen. Elijah and Stefan followed until all of them were in the dimly-lit kitchen. All except the woman could see well and even her eyes adjusted to the lighting.

From a shelf in a cupboard Stefan took a battery-operated lantern and turned it on, giving much more light, although it lacked the warmth of candlelight. Overall, the house was warm due to the fact that the fuel-oil furnace had shut down only a short while before and the radiators were still emitting heat.

"This is quite a kitchen," Caroline observed, looking at the modern appliances in the house she knew to be around a hundred years old. She had done quite a bit of research on the town in general. It was odd to think the building belonged to a company that really represented a couple of vampires. What did they need a modern kitchen for, anyway? Wasn't blood their main sustenance? Then she remembered that a human woman normally lived there. The idea reminded her that she herself was the only human there.

"Look in the cupboard over there," Damon said. "That's where the tea is." He was filling a tea kettle with water. He then put it on the stove, which ran on gas.

The woman saw the two boxes of tea bags and chose one box. She stepped back and ran into Elijah. "Oops. Sorry. Didn't know you were right behind me." She knew it was him without turning her head to see and she could feel that he did not move away. She didn't know what to think. What did he have on his mind?

 _A/N Thank you to everyone reading this story. It keeps me writing. As for Elijah, just what_ does _he have in mind?_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter7

Elijah was in control of himself, but he was standing close to her because he was inhaling the scent of the perfume and remembering Giselle. The one candle that sat on the counter threw a warm light onto her hair. He let himself visualize Giselle. He gave in to temptation and placed his hands on Caroline's shoulders while her back was still toward him.

At this touch, she froze, waiting to see what he would do. She again felt both fear and fascination. She wished she had not worn the flowery perfume and wondered just what the scent invoked in his mind. If he became aroused and aggressive, should she try to fight him off or surrender? Her chances of making him retreat were poor. But as a shiver ran through her, she also wondered if she even wanted him to stop. And where were the Salvatore brothers? Had they left the kitchen, leaving her undefended? Or were they silently watching, enjoying the show?

"I will not bite," Elijah murmured into the still-damp hair. He inhaled the very human scent of her blood and her natural female aroma, and felt the warmth radiating from her body. What he really wanted was to ravage her, bite, suck blood and take her sexually, but he was in too much control to let himself do that. Not here and now. The last times he had done that had been with the two non-human women Haley and Gia, but not together, and it had been with their consent.

He had not forgotten where he was and that the brothers were present. Still, he whispered to Caroline, "Let me caress your body. I will not hurt you." He was almost compelling her, and yet he was not, for he had no eye contact with her and made no effort to get into her mind. "May I?"

Caroline was torn between saying yes or saying no. She could smell the scent of the whiskey he had sipped just minutes past. She was afraid, and yet here she was in the arms of a handsome vampire she was getting to know. Despite what he was, she was attracted to him, so polite, so serious, so strong and yet so gentle. If she said no, would he proceed with what would technically be "inappropriate and unwanted sexual contact" or would he back off? Did she want him to back off? No, she didn't. She found herself nodding and whispering, "Yes."

He wasn't surprised by her answer. Few women refused Elijah Mikaelson unless he was on a terrifying rampage. He let his hands move from her shoulders down her arms, feeling not only the soft cashmere of her sweater, but also the softness of her flesh inside the sleeves. His touch left the outside of her arms and moved under them to her sides, and from there around to her breasts, somewhat protected from his touch by her sweater and the bra she was wearing. As he caressed the natural softness, her head came back to rest against his chest and she made some soft sound. She dropped the box of teabags and put her hands over his.

He could not help but think of Giselle and for a long moment he let himself pretend Caroline was that woman from the past. But then he brought himself back to the present as his hands moved from her chest to her abdomen, Caroline's, not Giselle's, and pressed her against his own body. He could hear her heart thumping rapidly and her hands on his pressed also.

His fingers caressed her and she made no protest as they worked their way lower and over the waistband of her low-rise jeans. Her hips shifted against the front of him and he let his groin respond to that. He was tempted to ease the fingers down inside the jeans, but he didn't do it. Still, he felt all the way to her more private area, fingers softly playing over the flesh under the fabric until she shuddered with a small cry. He held his own reaction in check to some degree, although he relished the feeling and made himself be satisfied with what he had just done.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear, gently kissed her cheek and brought his hands back up to her waist. He was not satisfied, but he would not force more on her.

After a moment she moved forward away from contact and turned her head to face him. She was blushing. Her eyes moved down his body to see if he was still aroused, for she had felt it, but there was no sign of it now. She didn't know what to say, so she said nothing and instead bent down and picked up the fallen box of teabags. She glanced past Elijah to the brothers who were still present and she saw them grinning. Her blushed reddened more and she turned to busy herself with putting a teabag into a cup.

Damon reached for the tea kettle that was whistling with steam and he brought it to where the cup sat as Elijah moved out of the way. Damon resisted voicing any of several crude comments he could have made, but the lascivious grin stayed on is face. What had happened was not something he would have expected from Elijah, who tended to be so proper and reserved. His reluctant admiration for the Original increased.

Elijah was vaguely embarrassed, not because he had taken advantage of Caroline, but because he had done so in front of Damon and Stefan. It was rare for him to do sexual things in front of others, although he had done so within view of Niklaus, who was less private about such activities. Now, he left the kitchen with Stefan and they returned to the study.

"Way to go, Elijah," Stefan chuckled, complimenting the Original. "You surprised me."

"I sometimes surprise myself," Elijah said, picking up the whiskey glass he had set aside. He quickly finished what liquid remained and held up the glass for a refill. Stefan obliged.

In the kitchen, Caroline refused to look at Damon who was watching her. She didn't want to see his expression nor to possibly encourage him to touch her. She had no idea what he might do or say. If he acted aggressively, she was sure a call to Elijah would bring the Original to her rescue. Again.

It turned out to be unnecessary because Damon took a box of cookies from a cabinet. "Come on into the study," he said and he walked away.

Caroline stood for a moment with her tea cup in hand. A slight tremor made tiny ripples in the tea. She didn't think she could face the men right then, so she sat down at the kitchen table and took a sip. The hot liquid slid down into her stomach and helped to warm her further, although for a couple of minutes there, she had felt overheated. She could still feel Elijah, the touch of his cool lips on her cheek and his hands on her body, the front of his body against her back. She marveled at how quickly he had brought her to that exquisite point. Did that mean that she had wanted that all along? Apparently so. And what were his feelings? Was he interested in her or had his actions just been a moment of lust? It didn't matter. The truth was that she was feeling rather lustful herself and tried to envision what it would be like to actually be in bed with Elijah. Surely he didn't kill every human he took to bed. She could not imagine that.

In the study, Elijah asked of Damon, "Where is Caroline?"

"I think she's embarrassed. She's probably still in the kitchen."

"I should not have embarrassed her. Not in front of you two," Elijah said, feeling guilty.

"Probably not," Damon said. "Why did you do that? I mean, with us there."

"Having you there was a safeguard, I suppose," Elijah admitted.

"Yeah, like we would have hauled you off of her if you had ripped off her clothes and tried to rape her," Stefan said with a snort. "You aren't the easiest one to control. I don't feel like being mauled tonight."

"Well, in any case, I behaved inappropriately. I shall apologize to her," the Original said and he turned to the hall door. In hindsight, he wished he had not acted impulsively, which was so unlike his usual calculated responses.

"Do you still need a 'safeguard', Big Guy?" Damon asked jokingly.

"No." Elijah ignored the chuckles he heard as he left the room and headed down the hall. He came to the kitchen and saw the woman sitting at the table, her hands wrapped around the warm cup. She was facing away from him and didn't turn her head. He walked around to the other side of the table and stood looking down at her. "I apologize for my behavior. I took advantage of you and embarrassed you. I am sorry."

"Are you?"

"Am I what? Sorry?"

"Sorry you took advantage of me?"

"I am sorry I embarrassed you. As I recall, you did not tell me to stop at any point. I wanted to please you."

"And yourself."

"Yes."

"Please sit down," she said and she watched as he did so.

"All this because the perfume I am wearing reminded you of someone else?"

"Yes and no. You are a lovely woman. Brave and spirited. I am quite drawn to you."

"I'm not sure what that means. How seriously _drawn_ to me?"

"Enough to do what I did, but perhaps misleading."

"Meaning you just used me. Not that I honestly minded. But in front of Damon and his brother?"

"You were safer that way. You must keep in mind what I am."

"A dangerous vampire. And a gentleman, or so I thought. I'm not angry, Elijah, just a little confused. I think this was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, an impulse you gave in to, and I should not make more of it. Right?"

"I am afraid that is so. As the cliché says, two ships passing in the night. A snow storm, in this case."

"I don't know if I should be insulted and angry or just forgive your actions and admit I enjoyed it."

"I would like to be forgiven," he said. "And I am pleased you enjoyed it."

Caroline saw the hint of a smile on his face, a twitch at the corners of his mouth and a warm look in his dark eyes. _Damn_ , she thought, her heartbeat increasing. She could not deny that she was attracted to him. Just how dangerous was it to actually go to bed with someone like him? She found herself wanting to find out.

Just to be sure she did not get the wrong idea, he said, "I'll be returning to New Orleans shortly. After I ascertain what is going on at my brother's house."

"It's not your house?"

"Not really. Niklaus owns it and sank a fortune into renovating it. He likes to do that sort of thing. But, being restless, he then moves on. Let us not talk about my dysfunctional family. I am concerned about your living here in Mystic Falls. It is a dangerous town."

"I suspected that when a bunch of citizens were murdered. And yet, no state or federal investigation occurred. How strange."

"Mystic Falls and places like this are treated with caution by the governments. The same is true of New Orleans, especially the French Quarter. They are places of mystical powers and unusual inhabitants. Please consider ending your studies here and move to a safer place."

"Like New Orleans? I've never been there and I understand it has amazing history."

"It does, but please do not move there. There is a war going on among the three main factions."

"Those being?"

"Vampires, werewolves and witches. There is even great friction within each faction."

"I would dearly love to study that."

"It would be like being a war correspondent, some of which are killed in each war. Please do not go there. Not New Orleans."

She noticed that he said the city's name with its more southern pronunciation. Instead of sounding like New Orleens, he ran the two words together to sound like Nuwawlins. She had also heard that there was an even shorter version. It was one of many regional pronunciations of places around the country, another interest of hers.

"Alright. I won't go there. Not for a while. But there is something else on my mind."

"What would that be?" To his surprise, she reached across the table and laid a hand on top of one of his. One of her fingers caressed the back of his hand. He looked into her eyes and knew what he saw.

"I think it is my turn to request some – um – intimacy. A bit more togetherness." She gave him a sly smile and stared at him, his hand still under hers. The smile had left his face and she thought he was opposed to the idea, maybe even finding it disagreeable. It was alright for him to caress her intimately, but not for her to take the initiative? But then the hint of a smile returned to his mouth and eyes.

"How much more togetherness?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

"A lot. This place must have many bedrooms. Perhaps we could borrow one for a short time," she said, feeling daringly bold. "I would not be putting my life on the line, would I?"

"Hardly. Are you sure?" Elijah was surprised by her forwardness, but he took her suggestion as a gift he had no intention of refusing, if she was serious. He had held himself back before, but he would not if he got her into bed. He was a man, after all, and being a vampire sometimes intensified his basic desires and actions, even though he tended to suppress them. But was she really sure it was what she wanted?

 _A/N Will they actually make it to a bedroom or will something interfere? And what about Elijah's initial reason for coming to Mystic Falls? Thank you to everyone who is reading this story and also to you all who are reading some of my other stories. Love you guys!_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _A/N Here we go, another chapter. This one has another sex scene, tastefully done, I hope._

"Yes. You have left me wanting more, I'm embarrassed to admit." She felt her face warm with blushing. Still, she did not remove her hand from on top of his.

"I have promised not to bite, but in bed, I might. Just a little. Nothing serious," he warned her.

Caroline had no way of knowing what would happen in bed with him. What was he capable of doing to her? Was he anatomically larger than most human men in the genital area? Would she end up injured by this powerful vampire? Was she taking a foolish chance? Maybe, but she felt an overwhelming desire to give it a try.

"Nothing serious? A promise?"

"Yes. Tell me again that this is what you want to do." He turned his hand over and grasped hers.

"I want to jump in bed with you, Elijah. But don't rip my clothes. I need them for afterward."

He finally, truly grinned at her and chuckled softly. "Alright, Miss Caroline. Let us ask our hosts for the use of a bedroom. And be assured that I am usually not a 'bodice ripper.' There will be no torn clothing, as long as you do not pop the buttons off my shirt."

"No popped buttons," she said with a grin. She withdrew her hand from his and stood up. He stood likewise and in a moment they were heading down the hall to the study, his hand lightly at her waist.

Neither of them were surprised to see raised eyebrows and amused looks on the faces of the brothers when Elijah asked if they might make use of a bedroom.

"Sure. But not my front room. Pick one that looks clean. The recent occupiers apparently aren't into domestic chores. Have fun, kids," Damon said with a leer.

Elijah and Caroline ignored the looks they got, but she did blush. He took one of the lit candles as they walked to the stairway leading from the front hall to the second floor, and she said, "I've never asked for a room for this purpose before."

"Then you have never acted the prostitute or accompanied one for intimate purposes as many men have done," Elijah said with a teasing smile.

"You thought I had?" she asked, vaguely insulted. What did he really think about her? She stopped on the first landing and turned to look at him.

"No. The idea didn't cross my mind," he assured her, although it obviously did cross his mind when she mentioned asking for a room. "I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression."

She accepted that and continued up the stairs to the second floor hallway, which ran from the front of the house to the rear much like that of a hotel. "I read that this was a boarding house after World War I for the soldiers," she said as he opened a door. Inside was an unmade bed. He closed the door.

"I believe so. By the way, you said you read that my family was from England. We lived there for a while, but none of us were born there. My younger siblings and I were born here."

"In the Americas?" she said in surprise. "Were you part of the Viking settlement in eastern Canada?"

"In a way. Our father and mother were on a ship that came further south to what is now Virginia. I was literally born here," Elijah said as he opened another door. This room was in complete disarray.

The third bedroom he looked at seemed to have been unused, with the bed neatly made with nice sheets and a comforter folded at the foot. He walked to it and sniffed. No one had used it. "This will do," he said, setting the candle down on the bedside table. The room was not big and the bed was a "double," bigger than a "twin," but smaller than a "queen." Big enough. He had had sex on narrower beds, on floor boards, on stone floors and dirt floors, as well as on other furniture and anywhere outdoors. When the mood was right and he was passionate, he didn't care, although he disliked doing it in mud or sand, finding either one irritating if it ended up in intimate places. And one time he had to have a woman pull cactus thorns out of his backside.

Caroline let the door click shut behind her and looked at the Original. The candle was behind him as he turned to face her and she saw only his silhouette. Her previous enthusiasm wavered as uncertainty stuck her. _What am I doing? I'm going to get bitten this time! He may like to beat his women! This is crazy!_

Elijah could almost read her thoughts. He could see that his shadow fell fully on her, so he moved so that she could see him better. He forced himself to say, "You can change your mind. I shall not force myself on you." His natural urges were telling him just the opposite.

"I'll admit I'm nervous. But I'm not a tease or a coward, Elijah. I want us to do this."

"Please tell me now if you are a virgin." He slipped out of his suit coat.

"No, I'm not. I had a lover, but we broke up three months ago. He couldn't stand my fascination with the supernatural."

"Am I just a research project?" He didn't really care as long as he got her into bed and got some serious sexual release.

"No. Believe me, you aren't. You have a great deal of sex appeal and I'll bet you know that very well," she said in an amused tone, and she moved to stand closely in front of him. Now the candle was to the side of them. Tentatively she reached out and started to undo his silk tie.

"I have been told that," he said, letting her remove the tie. "I cannot take the credit for my appearance, of course. I inherited however I look." Of course he made the best of it.

As she unbuttoned the front of his white shirt, he undid the cuffs of the sleeves. When she slid the shirt back over his shoulders, he let it slide from his arms to the floor. The candlelight highlighted the muscles of his arms, chest and abdomen. He would have unbuttoned her sweater, but she was wearing a pull-over. He was quick to slide his hands under the sweater and lift it. She raise her arms and in a moment was wearing only the bra. His nimble fingers had that undone in a flash, so that she found herself topless in the light of the flickering candle. It made her pause, feeling vulnerable again.

He took the opportunity to kick off his shoes, undo his belt and let the trousers fall, so that he was standing there in shorts and socks. She followed his example and shed her boots and jeans, leaving herself in just her panties. She didn't resist when he slipped an arm around her, pulled her close and leaned down to kiss her. With their bodies in close contact, she felt the response begin in his groin.

"Speak up now," he murmured into her mouth, "because it's your last chance to say 'no.'"

"I want you," she whispered back, her hands going around to his bare, muscular back.

His hands dropped down and so did her panties. She kicked them off, sending them under the bed, and when she looked at him again he was without underwear. In a moment he scooped her up in his arms and plopped her down on the bed. He didn't fool around with foreplay this time and it was a good thing that she was already turned on, because he was inside in no time. She found that he was not over-endowed, but that it was just right to give the pleasure she craved.

What else she found out was that as he experience an orgasm, he raked his fangs along her shoulder, making shallow scratches that stung and bled. His fangs were retracted in an instant as he licked up her blood, his body shuddering with the combined effect of both the sex and the blood. His saliva took away the sting.

She had not had time to reach her peak, but he continued on until she did, leaving her quite satisfied. He bit his own bottom lip, bringing a welling of blood and he smeared it onto the wounds on her skin. The two red lines healed almost instantly, as did his lip. He could hear the thumping of her galloping heartbeat as it began to slow. His own heart rhythm slowed as well.

He rolled over to lie beside her. His eyes roamed over her body, glistening in the candle's light from sweat. A brown mole showed on her skin about two inches below her navel and he remembered that Giselle had had a similar mole. Caroline just had to be Giselle's doppelganger!

"Is mademoiselle satisfied?" he asked with a chuckle. He was sure she was, but his male ego wanted to hear her say so.

"Oh, _oui_ ," she said with a grin. "That was great. If this were the old days, we would be smoking now."

"I assume you mean cigarettes. I do not smoke anymore. Or rarely."

"Me neither. My boyfriend did. Chain smoker. Tobacco _and_ pot. That was one of the things we argued about. Elijah, how long are you going to be in town?" She reached out and touched his tousled hair, then ran a finger down his face, feeling the slight hint of whiskers and then the cleft in his chin. He grasped her wrist and kissed her fingers.

"I'll probably leave tomorrow. I wish you would consider leaving this town and studying somewhere else, something else."

"But not New Orleans?" she teased, knowing already that he felt it was unsafe.

"No. The danger there is just as bad, if not more so. I assume you have never seen the real murder and mayhem that can occur when the supernatural is involved."

"Surely you do not randomly commit murder," she said, not being able to envision how he would do it. Did this gentleman vampire, who wore expensive suits, actually use fangs to rip into peoples' throats and get sprayed with blood? She didn't think so.

"Not randomly, usually, but in battle that happens. Do not fantasize that vampires are nice people, Caroline. We can be vicious because we have the strength and the means. And sometimes …" He didn't finish the sentence, not wanting her to find him horrifying or disgusting.

"Here and now I would like to pretend you didn't say that."

"Alright. Forget I said it. Now, there is probably enough hot water to take a shower," he mentioned. "Of course, we would save water showering together." He sat up naked on the bed, the warm light from the candle showing off the muscles of his back and shoulders. And his buttocks.

"That sounds like a good plan," she agreed as she enjoyed the view, and she carried the candle as they went into the small bathroom. The room contained new soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and tooth paste like in many hotels. There were already two sets of towels and washcloths handy and even a comb and blow dryer for their hair. They were careful because the shower was in an old-fashioned claw-foot tub and they didn't want to slip and fall, but still, they managed to do a little more body exploration. They both enjoyed the hot water as well. After stepping out of the shower, they used the towels. Caroline mostly dried her blonde hair with the blow dryer and both of them used the one comb. Finally, warm and dry, they looked for their clothing. Elijah had to grin as he watched the nude woman get down on hands and knees to retrieve the panties she had kicked under the bed. It was a stimulating sight, but he told himself no. With determination he dressed.

"We should have brought your bag upstairs so you could put on clean clothes," Elijah observed as he made sure the damp towels were hung on the racks because he doubted anyone would come clean the room. He didn't like the idea of the towels lying in a heap on the floor getting sour and moldy.

"Aside from my toiletries, there's nothing but dirty clothes in my bag. I had planned to be home today." She saw what he did with the towels and decided he was probably very neat in his home, wherever that happened to be. She liked that.

"I see. You look fine with what you are wearing. There's no blood on your sweater. Let us go downstairs," he said, picking up the candle. "I do wish I had my make-up," Caroline sighed as she preceded the Original out the door.

"You have a natural beauty," Elijah assured her, noticing how the candle light shown off her blonde hair.

"Thank you, kind sir." She led the way to the stairs, which she could see by the glow that came from the lower hall and the study as well as from the candle Elijah carried. She thought that Elijah was very used to candlelight, considering his age.

Neither Damon nor Stefan made a joke about the time they had spent upstairs. "The snow has stopped and it hasn't turned to sleet or rain, so why don't I drive you over to your place and you can check it out?" the older brother suggested.

"Alright," Elijah said. "Caroline can stay here while we're gone."

"No, she can't, because she is coming with you," the young woman said with determination.

"Whatever," Damon muttered, suspecting she could be stubborn like some other young ladies he knew.

With Stefan electing to stay home, Damon, Elijah and Caroline went out to the big truck and climbed in. Again, Damon drove carefully since the road conditions hadn't changed, even though the visibility was good. He turned down the next road which took him to the driveway of the big house Klaus owned. He entered the driveway and stopped. There were tire tracks, half-filled with new snow. Someone was there or had been there.

 _A/N I hope you liked this chapter, although it is little more than two people in bed. Next chapter will deal with what they find in the mansion. Any comments?_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"No candles," Elijah observed, looking at the dark windows of the mansion. "There's a generator, but it appears no one is using it. I still must check inside." He knew there was a chance that there were lighted windows on the back of the house. The two porch lamps on either side of the front door normally came on as darkness fell, but they were wired and not now on due to the power failure.

Caroline, impressed with the big, beautiful house, wondered what kind of décor would a vampire like Klaus Mikaelson prefer? Really wanting to know, she insisted on going inside with the men, even though danger could be lurking.

They got out of the vehicle, walked to the pillared front porch, and Elijah tried the door knob. It was unlocked so that he didn't need to use his key. He reached out to be sure no anti-vampire barrier now existed. None did and he stepped inside, taking out his cell phone to use its light.

"Stay behind us," Elijah warned Caroline. "Do not wander into any rooms not entered by us."

His cell phone cast a cold light as he and his companions walked into the big foyer, where he paused to sniff the air and to listen. The house was cool, but not cold, indicating that the furnace had been working until the electricity had gone off. There was no sound except the vague creaking of a cooling house.

"Smell that?" Damon asked.

"Yes."

"What is that?" Caroline asked, sniffing the air and finding an unpleasant odor.

"Death," Damon said.

"Could it be a dead rat or something?" she asked, not wanting to know it might be a dead person.

"Something," Damon said. He and Elijah spent another long moment listening for any sounds that might be coming from an intruder.

Elijah shown his light into the living room, where chairs and tables had been covered by sheets, but now the furniture was in disarray and the liquor cabinet open. There were a few empty bottles here and there. "The Remington painting is gone," he observed.

"I don't sense anyone here now," Damon said. He and Caroline followed Elijah to another room and then another. All showed signs of disrespect for the owners. And the odor increased.

Caroline wanted to stay nearer the front door where the smell was least, but she had to stay with the men for safety and she didn't want to appear "wimpy." She found herself swallowing and gagging as the smell got worse. Finally, Elijah opened a closed door and the odor became very strong. He walked into the kitchen, shining the light ahead of him, sweeping the beam quickly around the room. The place was a mess with food and dirty dishes scattered about. The refrigerator/freezer doors stood open. Some of the bad smell came from rotting food, but the main source of the stink came from the two bodies there on the floor. They had been dead for days, perhaps a week.

Caroline looked just once before turning away and retching. Luckily, her stomach was empty except for a little remaining tea. She had seen more than she wanted to see, a man and a woman with slashed necks and dried blood spattered around and pooled on the floor. She thought she would faint, but she didn't. She had wanted to know what vampires did to humans and now she had seen it. It amazed her that Elijah and Damon moved around the room with care not to step in the blood, and apparently not bothered by the sight or the stench.

"Are these your caretakers?" Damon asked.

"Yes. I shall notify Klaus. And the sheriff and undertaker. They know how to handle these situations," Elijah said, having no intention of inviting a proper murder investigation. "We have the information for their relatives. And we will hire a cleaning service and another couple to take care of the place." To Caroline he added, "By 'we' I mean my family and the people who handled some of our business. By 'cleaning service' I mean companies equipped to clean up frequent gruesome messes."

"But these people were _murdered!_ " Caroline said. "Won't somebody try to find the ones who did it and hold them accountable?"

"Not in this town overrun with the Heretics and other supernaturals," Damon said. "This isn't a normal place, Caroline. People get murdered all the time here."

"It just isn't right!" She found it unbelievable that the matter would just be "swept under the carpet." Tears of outrage stung her eyes and she wiped them away with the sleeve of her coat.

"Of course it is not right," Elijah said calmly, too accustomed to such occurrences to really care, except that it had happened in the Mikaelson house and that was a personal affront. "Damon, please take Caroline back to your place or to her home. I shall be occupied here for a while making calls." Damon left the room and took Caroline down the hall to the foyer. He used his own phone for light. Once outside, he said, "Any questions about what you saw?"

"No! Yes! That was awful! Would you ever do something like that?" she asked as they walked to the truck. The outdoor air smelled fresh and clean, but the odor remained in her nose.

"You're talking to a hundred and fifty-year-old vampire who has had good times and bad, who has often had his humanity turned off, so to speak. What do you think the answer is?"

"And Elijah, too?" she asked, her throat tight.

"More times than he can count, I would think." His voice showed no emotion.

"My God! You don't really care, do you?"

"I care sometimes. If someone I love is victimized."

"You seemed not to care that your own mother is gone! Despite the stories and myths about handsome male vampires and beautiful females ones, there is obviously nothing romantic about them, that's for certain. It's a false cover on an ugly truth." She argued with Damon as if he were a human man. At the moment, she did not consider that she might make this vampire angry and that he might turn on her.

"Excuse me, but I can be damned romantic," Damon asserted. "And I'm sure you found out Elijah can be, too."

Caroline said nothing as she tried to deal with her conflicting emotions of anger, disgust and fear, while she also felt drawn to Elijah.

After a few moments, as Damon drove back the way he had come, she said, "This may sound stupid, but I don't want to be alone. I don't want you to take me to my own place."

"You'd rather be in a house with us vampires?" His tone was snarky.

"Yes. If you'll promise not to do me harm. Pretend I'm just another vampire friend."

"You can stay the night. I won't harm you. Stefan won't either. But we can't pretend you're a vampire. You have a decidedly human scent, a warm body temperature, and a heartbeat faster than ours. You are full of delicious blood and you're a very sexy lady. But, hey, don't let it worry you. You'll be safe with us."

Caroline glanced at him, seeing his smirk in the light of the truck's lighted displays. This had been a horrible day, except for the intimate time with Elijah, and it might get worse. Instead of reading about vampires or listening to lectures, she was immersed in her subject face to face. In Elijah's case, it was even pelvis to pelvis.

"Vampires are sterile, right?" she asked as a new thought came to her.

"Isn't it a little late to ask that?"

"I hope not. I know I've heard that to be true. That y'all are sterile."

"Yes, ma'am, we all are. Except Elijah's brother Klaus."

"His brother?" If the brother was not sterile, was Elijah? He had said nothing about protection while they were in bed and she had not either. "Why isn't he?"

"He's a hybrid. Half vampire, half werewolf. The werewolf side is not sterile. I don't know how that works, but he's sired a child. I don't mean 'sired' as in making a vampire. I mean he sired the child the old fashioned way."

"But Elijah isn't a hybrid?"

"Pure vampire. Relax. He can't get you preggie."

"This day has been one for the books," she sighed. "Incredibly educational, exciting, scary, and horribly disgusting. And sad. And I have to admit, with Elijah, a bit of a turn-on."

"We vampires like to please. Would milady be interested in experimenting further?"

"No, if you mean what I think you mean. Thanks, but no. Damon, will the ones who killed that couple ever be arrested?"

"Unlikely. Will they pay for what they did? Maybe. Vampire justice can be delayed." He glanced at her and saw the reflection of light on tears running down her cheeks. "What?"

"I think I'm losing my mind," she said, almost in a whisper as she wiped her face with her sleeve. "Maybe none of this is real. Maybe I seriously hurt my head when the car went over the edge. I've been hallucinating. Maybe this is all a bad dream."

"You're just confused and in shock. Seeing the caretakers as they are now was an ugly shock. I assume you don't see corpses often."

"Except for funerals, I've never seen a dead person and certainly not one in that condition," she admitted, wiping at more tears.

"What you believed and thought you knew doesn't gibe with what you have seen and know now."

The woman nodded and then was silent until he was about to drive into his driveway. She sighed and said, "You know what I would like?"

"What?"

"Food. I'm starving, despite that nauseating scene back there. The smell is in my nose. Do you think that pizza place is open and working? If I smelled pizza it might remove the stench."

"Maybe," he said, suspecting that she was changing the subject to protect her sanity. For a moment he thought about what he had in his own freezer and knew there was no pizza.

"I doubt they are doing business unless they have electricity." Then he notice a glow in the sky which had partly cleared of clouds. "But look over there. I think the downtown area does have lights. Let's check it out." With ice still a problem, he drove carefully to downtown Mystic Falls and found that the area had power. It was the region south of town that was dark.

"Your house probably has power," he told her, since she had said she lived north of the community.

"I don't want to be alone tonight. Really. If it's still alright with you, I'll stay at your house." She wondered if it was a stupid choice, but she found she was more afraid of possibly-prowling Heretics than being with Elijah, Damon and Stefan.

"Sure. No problem." As they got out of the truck, he phoned his brother and told him that he and Caroline were getting pizza for supper. "I don't know if Elijah will join us. There was a mess at the mansion. The caretakers were dead."

While they waited for the two pizzas Damon ordered, they sat at a small table. There were other people there and the place was noisy.

"You'll be alright," he told her calmly. "Hysteria is a common reaction. Or terror. I think you actually have handled all this quite well." He could see that her face was very pale.

"I feel like I am coming apart," she admitted in a low voice he could barely hear. "I've been in a car accident. I've tasted the blood of a vampire. I've been in bed with him. I've seen a horrible murder scene caused by vampires and no one cares. I should be hysterical! I have a right to be, don't I?"

He nodded. He was going to reach out and take her gloved hand, but he feared it would be the "last straw" and she would scream. He noticed a slight tremor in her hand and then she shuddered. Wanting to distract her, he got her to talk about her normal life, her parents living in North Carolina, her older brother, married with children. Afterward, they sat in silent thought

for a few minutes until their pizzas were ready.

As they were leaving the place, two men walked in, greeting Damon. He acknowledged them and continued out. Caroline glanced at them and wondered if they were human, regular vampires, Heretics or something else. She didn't ask.

She had nothing to say as they drove to the Salvatore place and went inside. Stefan greeted them, but he asked no questions when Damon shook his head in warning. "I think Caroline could use a good stiff drink," the older brother said. "What do you drink, besides tea?"

"Tequila, I guess," Caroline said as Stefan helped her out of her coat.

Damon shed his own coat and fixed drinks for all three of them. "Have a seat. I'll get stuff from the kitchen so we can eat here." He didn't need anything extra, but he thought she might like a plate for her slices and extra napkins.

Stefan had his laptop on and music he liked filled the silent lack of conversation as they hungrily ate.

For Caroline, eating the hot, delicious slices of pizza made her feel like the world was normal, at least for the moment.

 _A/N I hope you liked this chapter, despite stinky dead bodies. Will Elijah find anyone else in the house? In the morning, will Caroline go to her own home? Will Elijah head back to New Orleans? Thanks for reading, guys!_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Back at the mansion, Elijah made the calls he had to make, including to Klaus. As he did so, he walked up the stairs to check the bedrooms. The electrical power suddenly came back on, along with the small hall lights. As he entered the first bedroom, he was furious and disgusted with what he found. The bedroom had been ransacked, but worse, it had been vandalized with smears of feces! This was not the kind of thing he expected from vampires, but then again, some of the Heretics might be young thugs.

He had moved to his own damaged bedroom when he heard voices. He turned off the ceiling light and stood waiting to see who was in the house. At least two young men were coming up the stairs and then along the hall, which was dimly lit by small "night lights."

"Elijah, are you here?" came a voice.

He immediately recognized it as belonging to Dodge. _What the hell is he doing here?_ he wondered. _Why would he even think I was here? Has he been following me?_

He heard the men stop and look into one of the bedrooms and they sounded surprised when they saw its condition. He left his room and went out into the hall, making his way to the bedroom now lighted by a ceiling light. He moved so silently that he actually startled them when he came up behind them. Since he knew Dodge was a Heretic, he had to assume the other man might be also.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. He had considered killing them before they realized he was right behind them, but then he hoped to learn something from them.

"Looking for you, Elijah," Dodge said. His expression told Elijah that he was pleased to see him. "This is Martin. I told him about meeting you and he wanted to see you."

"I really wanted to _meet_ you," Martin said. "Man, you are famous!" He held out a hand.

Elijah did not shake hands. "So, you have been following me? I do _not_ appreciate that."

"Famous dudes get followed," Martin told him. "At least we aren't sneaking around taking pictures of you."

"If you take my picture I will smash your phone," Elijah warned. "What do you know about the vandalism of this house?" He was glaring at Martin.

"Nothing, dude."

"Nothing? Reconsider your answer."

"I mean, I know some of our people came here. Julian and some others. Like, they partied for a couple of nights. But, they didn't do _that_!" He swept his arm to indicate the smeared excrement. "Someone else did that."

"How do you know? You were here?"

"Um…when Julian was here, yeah. But our people wouldn't do that. I swear."

"Who took the paintings?"

"I'm not sure. Someone liked the one with the cowboys, I guess. It disappeared."

"Yes, it is gone. And others. Who killed the man and woman who lived here?"

"I don't know. They were dead when I got here." There was no question that Dodge and Martin could smell the odor of dead bodies, but they didn't pay any attention to it.

"Fresh-killed?"

"Yeah."

"When was that?"

"Six nights ago. Look, Julian is in charge now that Lily is gone. What our 'family' does or doesn't do is under his orders. We're vampires like you. You kill people. We kill people. Same difference, right?"

"No. The Heretics and my family are not at war. Your people killed servants belonging to us and defiled our house, stealing from us." Elijah found it ludicrous that Martin thought himself equal to the Mikaelsons. He felt the urge to behead him. And Dodge, too, just for being annoying. On the other hand, there was serious business to attend to in New Orleans and he didn't want to start a conflict here in Mystic Falls.

Elijah saw the headlights of a car out in the driveway and, although there were no flashing lights, he thought it likely that the sheriff had arrived. "Head downstairs," he said, moving so that he was not between them and the door. When they hesitated, he took hold of Dodge's arm and pushed him toward the door. The man looked at him and grinned. Even before Elijah could removed his gloved hand, Dodge put his own right over it.

"Do not aggravate me, Dodge. I am not in a good mood." He tightened his grip so that the man winced and the grin disappeared.

As Dodge moved into the hall, he asked, "If you were in a good mood, would you be interested?" He was attracted to the handsome Original and was not yet ready to give up.

"No."

"I heard you Originals sometimes swing both ways."

"Perhaps you heard wrong. Beware, I am nearly in a killing mood," Elijah warned. "I am assuming you are not willing to die just to see what I might do with you."

"I don't guess so," Dodge said in a disappointed tone as they reached the stairs.

"Let it go, Dodge," Martin said. "You and me, we got something going."

Dodge looked once more at Elijah and smirked at him and raised a finger.

The Original ignored it and followed them down the stairs. He was wary of both of them. Out of long habit, he just did not trust people who were witches. They could actually hurt him. His own family, particularly his mother and his brothers Finn and Kol, had once liked magic, Finn in particular. Esther's control of magic had been downright dangerous, until she was really dead. Elijah had long hated both of his parents and Finn as well.

As he reached the lower floor, the sheriff entered the foyer where the chandelier was now lit. The two Heretics walked right by him and out the door.

"Should they have been detained?" Matt Donovan asked Elijah. The sheriff's situation in the town was not good, since he was a normal human. He did the best he could, but it was a dangerous and frustrating problem for him.

"I have questioned them already and I do not believe either of them killed our caretakers. Come, I will show you." Elijah led the way to the kitchen. Several lights in and around the house were on. He spent the next hour going through the house with Matt, and while they were doing so, the coroner's office came and took the bodies. They asked few questions, since they had seen plenty of deaths from vampire attacks. In addition, because Martin had sworn that the excrement was not from the Heretics, Elijah suggested Matt take a sample for DNA. Perhaps some humans were responsible.

When Elijah was left along, he then spent another hour taking further inventory of missing and damaged things. He phoned his brother and gave a report. He was not surprised to hear Niklaus rant and rave about what had been done to the place he had spent time and money making into a beautiful home.

"I have called for the emergency cleaning service. I shall stay here for a day or two to take care of things," he told his brother. "I plan to stay with the Salvatores, if they will have me. The electricity has come back on. Everything looks worse with good lighting."

At the Salvatore house the brothers and Caroline finished the pizzas, except for several slices they saved for Elijah, should he return. They were watching a movie on the laptop when the electricity came back on. Caroline was especially cheered, since she did not have the good eyesight in the candlelight that the two vampires had. In addition, the house had been cooling down, except near the fireplace. As Stefan paused the movie, she looked around the study more closely.

"This is quite a room. Are some of these antiques?"

"Quite a few. A previous resident did most of the decorating," Damon told her.

She looked at her wrist watch and said, "I wonder if Elijah is coming back."

"He might or he might stay at the mansion," Stefan said, stretching. "There certainly are enough bedrooms there."

"But would he want to stay, considering the smell and the way the place was trashed?"

"Who knows?" Damon said, getting himself a refill of his drink. "I'll leave the front door unlocked in case he comes back after we've gone to bed. Are you sure you don't want to go to your own place?"

"I would really rather stay here. Unless you don't want me to."

"I said you could stay. That's not a problem. You can use the room you already used. I'm guessing it was clean."

"It was. I could use fresh towels, though."

"There's a linen closet. It has a brass owl emblem on it," Stefan informed her. "Do you want to see the rest of the movie?"

"Yes. I'll go upstairs afterward." She wondered why there was an owl emblem, but did not ask. Instead, she joined the brothers to look at the small screen again.

Although the hour was not really late when the film was over, she was weary and sore from the afternoon's events and she was ready to sleep. She went to where her suitcase sat and picked it up. Remembering that it was full of dirty clothes, she asked, "Is there any chance I could borrow a tee shirt from one of you gentlemen? All my stuff needs to be laundered. I expected to be home today."

"No problem," Damon said. "Come on upstairs. Stefan, I'm going to my room. Take care of things down here before you go up."

" 'K," the younger brother said, staring at something else on his laptop.

Caroline, looking at everything she could see in the better light, followed Damon up the stairs. The first upstairs room they came to was his. The door was open and a light was now on.

"If you don't want to sleep alone, I have a very comfortable and large bed," he said, waving a hand at the room. He gave her a charming smile.

"I'll be fine in the other room, thank you." She returned his smile. She realized that on this night, she had the opportunity to sleep with another vampire, but she was too tired to do it. And besides, she didn't know how violent Damon might be with the biting part. She stood in the doorway while he went to a dresser and retrieved a clean, folded tee shirt. His bed was nicely made, she noticed. If there was no maid, had he made the bed? Her ex-boyfriend had never considered making a bed. He reasoned that it was just going to get messed up again.

Damon handed her the shirt. "I hope you'll be comfortable. The heat is on again, so you shouldn't get cold."

"There's a comforter on the bed. I'll be fine. Thank you." She went down the hall to the door to the room she had shared with Elijah and flipped the light switch just inside the door. She also noticed the door in the hall that had the owl thing on it. After leaving her bag on the bed, she went for a fresh towel and wash cloth. Returning to the room, she pulled the curtains closed. She had no idea if anyone was close enough to the house to see in the window, but she liked privacy when undressing in a lighted room. She remembered that her phone needed charging and she got it out of her pants pocket. The charging cord was in her bag and she plugged that in. By morning she would be able to use her phone again. She had felt very disconnected from the world without it.

When she finally climbed into the bed with just the bedside lamp on, she lay there thinking about Elijah. She could almost smell him on the pillow, although he seemed to lack the smell of male sweat. She wondered if vampires had almost no scent at all. Scent or not, she certainly could remember how it had been there with him, how contact with his body had felt and how he had pleased her. She found herself wishing he would return. She had not locked her door. Perhaps he would come to her again. Before she turned out the light and drifted off to sleep, she heard the wind whistling outside her window, causing her to snuggle under the covers to feel warm and safe.

Elijah decided that he had done all he could at the mansion. A couple of cleaning people had already arrived and more were due. They could do their work without any supervision by him and he decided he was ready to leave. Not wanting to sleep in the vandalized house, he would go back to the Salvatore house. Then he remembered that he did not have a vehicle. He could have walked either around by the road or by tromping through the snowy woods to Damon's back yard. When he went out the front door to check the weather, he found that the sky had clouded over again, the wind had picked up and new snow was falling. The reprieve from the storm had been short.

Going back into the house, he went to the man in charge of clean-up and asked for a ride. The fellow, who knew Elijah from past jobs, readily agreed and they went out into the cold. In a few minutes, Elijah was dropped off in front of the Salvatore house and walked to the front door. The porch light was on and there was still a light on in the study. Before ringing the doorbell and perhaps waking people, he tried the doorknob. The door was not locked. Had they expected him to come back? It even crossed his mind that some of the Heretics had come back to the house.

He quietly entered, closing the door behind him. In a moment, Stefan appeared at the study door, a cautious look on his face.

Elijah held up a hand in greeting and said, "I have assumed I am still welcome to spend the night."

"Yeah. We thought you might. I see it's snowing again," the young man said, seeing flakes on the Original. "Damon and Caroline have gone to bed. Not together, I don't think."

Although Elijah did not plan to waken Caroline, he was pleased she was not in Damon's bed.

 _A/N Another chapter done. I hope you liked it. It is awful what some people will do to vandalize and destroy other people's property. Anyway, I am working on another chapter. Thanks for reading._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Damon's bedroom was above the study and Stefan had not heard anything to indicated the two people were active on the bed. "Want a nightcap?" he asked Elijah. "Or some pizza? We saved a few slices."

"No, thank you. The situation at the house drove me to have a drink already. And I do not have an appetite." Since Stefan had not gone to the mansion and Damon had not gone up to the mansion's second floor, Elijah took the time to tell Stefan about the mess in the bedrooms.

"That doesn't sound like the work of the Heretics," Stefan said. He knew his mother Lily would never have condoned such behavior. Unlike Damon, he felt sad that their mother was dead.

"Dodge and his friend said as much," Elijah nodded. "Well, I shall go look for a clean bed. Good night, Stefan." He turned to the hall, where he picked up the suitcase he had left there and went up the stairs now lit by a couple of small lights. Once he reached the upstairs hallway he stopped to listen near Damon's closed door. He did not detect any sound or scent that indicated Caroline was in there. Moving down the hall, he paused at "her" door. The hour was late now and she was likely asleep.

Deciding she needed her sleep, he moved to the next room and checked it out. This room was apparently unused by anyone for a while and he decided it was good enough for him. Heat came from the radiator near the window and it felt nice. Drawing the curtains, he undressed down to his underwear and climbed into bed. He didn't fall asleep for some time, however, because he kept thinking about the mansion. And about the woman asleep in the next room. As he lay awake, he concentrated his hearing on the wall between them. After a couple of moments, he could hear her slow, steady heartbeat and knew she was sleeping peacefully.

About three hours later he woke, sensing that it should be dawn. However, the room was dark and cooler than when he had fallen asleep. He threw back the covers and padded barefoot to the window, moving the curtain aside. There was darkness outside; not even the streetlight down the block was lit. The electricity was off again. He reached for his cell phone and checked the time. He might as well stay up. Perhaps he could get a cup of coffee downstairs.

He had no candle in the room, so by the light of the phone he got dressed, putting on a clean shirt and a navy blue suit with a pale blue tie. When he left the room, he headed for the back stairway and went down to the kitchen. In a moment he was joined by Damon, who turned on the battery-operated lantern.

"Fine weather," Damon muttered snarkly.

"Rain in New Orleans, but no snow," Elijah commented, studying the weather report on his phone. He went to the back door and opened it, but just for a moment, because wind and snow swirled in. He knew that Virginia got snow in the winter, but not like further north. And as often as not, the snow fell on the mountains west of Mystic Falls.

"The ski resorts near here are happy, I'm sure," Damon said with a snort. He was a moderately good skier, but it was not one of his favorite things to do, depending on who he was with. He set about heating water on the gas stove for coffee. "What do you want for breakfast? I make damn good pancakes." He gave a short laugh.

Elijah had no idea why making pancakes was humorous and he didn't ask. "Toast and coffee will be enough."

"Toaster's not working. No power."

"It seems that I recall toasting bread long before electricity came along."

"Yeah, me, too. It's more work though," Damon said, getting an old percolator coffee pot from a lower cabinet since his automatic coffee maker couldn't work.

"I can do it if you have a couple of items," Elijah said and he did this at the gas stove.

In a few minutes the two men had coffee, toast and jam. Damon offered to heat the remaining pizza slices, but Elijah didn't want any, so the younger man ate them cold. While they sat at the table, the Original told Damon what had been accomplished while he was at the mansion and showed him pictures on his phone. "I wish to go over there in a while and see how the clean-up went."

"I'll take you over there, if the road doesn't have too much snow. I'm surprised my neighbor hasn't asked for his truck back."

"He may not have arisen yet."

"Yeah, you're right. Do you want a bag of blood? There's several in the fridge."

"No. I'm fine." As an old Original, he needed little blood unless he lost some.

"Well, I'm going to down one. I'm sure Stefan will. He won't bother to go out to the woods this morning."

"What does he feed on?"

"Deer. Doesn't kill any, just sucks some blood. At least he doesn't kill a bunch of bunnies anymore. You ever take animal blood?"

"Not in many years. A couple of centuries, probably. I do not like the taste, so I would have to be in serious need. Did Stefan not use human blood when he traveled with Niklaus?"

"Yeah. Klaus forced him. You know my brother is a 'ripper' when he's on fresh human blood?"

"So I have heard. Unfortunate."

Caroline walked into the room looking a bit rumpled and she put her hand over her mouth as she yawned. "What's a ripper?" she asked. Then she noticed that Damon had a bag of blood in his hand and she stared at it. "Are you drinking that?" Her tone suggested she found the idea disgusting.

"Yum! Would you rather I suck up some fresh blood from the only human in the house?" Damon raised an eyebrow at her.

"No! I smelled coffee. I need my morning coffee."

"Help yourself. We're kinda roughing it this morning. Power's off again."

"I noticed," she said as she found a cup and poured herself some. She sat down and added some sugar to the dark liquid.

"What's a ripper?" she persisted. It occurred to her that it sounded dangerous and probably gruesome.

"I'm not going to explain and I wouldn't ask Stefan, if I were you," Damon said firmly.

The three of them sat talking for about ten minutes before Stefan joined them. He was dressed in flannel pajama pants and a tee shirt. He was barefoot and his hair was uncombed, spiking out this way and that.

"You ate the pizza!" he accused, eyeing the empty box. "I wanted that!"

"Beat you to it," Damon said. "You snooze, you lose." Since he was sitting nearest the refrigerator, he stood up, got a bag of blood from it and tossed it to his brother. Stefan caught it and bit one of the ports open.

Caroline watched in fascination as he squeezed cold blood from the bag into is mouth. He stopped half way through.

"My room is freezing," he told no one in particular.

"I keep my brother in the attic," Damon informed Caroline.

"Why? That's awful!"

"He's such a nuisance. Younger brothers can be a pain in the butt."

"Truer words were never spoken," Elijah agreed, a slight smile on his face. He had had three younger siblings, all of them constantly stirring up trouble. With Kol gone, now there were just Niklaus and Rebekah, but their ways had not changed, especially the brother's.

"Don't listen to them," Stefan said to the woman. "I like it up there. Get's me away from a bossy brother."

"I have three sisters. I'm the youngest, so I've been bossed around since I was little," she said, grinning. Stefan grinned back at her and there was blood on his teeth. She didn't think that was very attractive, but she gave no sign of her thought. She noticed that when he finished the blood, he went to the sink and rinsed his mouth. He then poured himself a cup of coffee.

After a few minutes, Elijah gazed out the kitchen window by the sink and saw that the light outside had finally increased. Dawn had come behind the heavy clouds.

"Now that daylight has come, perhaps I could get a ride over to the house to see what progress has been made," he said.

"I would like to go with you. I'd like to see that lovely house in daylight," Caroline said. "Although I have read a brief article about the place, I've never even driven by it. Do you think those two poor people have been taken away?"

"Hours ago," Elijah told her.

As a result of this conversation, all four people eventually went out into driving snow and to the truck. A couple of minutes were spent getting snow off the windshield and then they climbed inside. The snow on the ground was deeper than the day before, but the truck had good clearance and heavy tires. In no time Damon had driven to the mansion. Only one company truck still sat in the driveway.

The four people tromped through the snow to the front porch and stamped snow from their boots or shoes before they entered the building. The generator was running again so that there was light and heat inside. Right away the scent of cleaning fluid and air freshener greeted them. It was not overpowering and definitely smelled better than the mixed odors of spilled liquor, dead bodies and rotting food.

Caroline was surprised the place smelled so much better than what she had smelled the night before. She had feared it would still stink. Feeling the heat, she removed her coat and laid it aside. With good lighting, she was able to see the beauty of the foyer, the curving staircase, the crystal chandelier and the adjacent living room, which had been in disarray when she had seen it by limited lighting, and she was impressed.

"How many paintings are missing?" Damon asked, noting the absence of one he remembered.

"Half a dozen at least," Elijah said, laying his overcoat aside. "Niklaus is not going to be happy to hear his painting of Caroline is gone."

"The nude?"

"Yes."

Caroline knew they did not mean a painting of her. She noticed that there were still some broken items here and there and she mentioned it.

"We will make decisions concerning what will be repaired and what replaced," the Original said. "A full report, along with photographs, will be given to my brother."

Stefan followed the others and looked around. He had spent some time in the house both before and after he had been released from Klaus' clutches. He still had mixed feelings about the Original who could easily be either friend or foe at any moment. He found Elijah easier to be around, even though Elijah was not the buddy type.

They moved to the kitchen and Caroline was relieved to see there was no sign of the murders or the food mess, and only the smell of cleaning materials remained. She thought it a shame that the killings were likely not to be avenged. When they all trooped upstairs, she admired the big bedrooms, which were finely furnished.

Elijah paid particular attention to areas he knew had been defiled, but he was satisfied with the work the cleaners had done. The walls could use a new coat of paint, but that was not a problem. In his own room there were still a few items of his clothing. He did, in fact, have clothing here and there around the country and in other countries. He moved often and he returned to some places almost as often. Klaus and Rebekah did the same. Elijah and his sister were more aware of fashion changes than Klaus, who often dressed in a sloppy manner, and so they bought new clothes now and then.

They could hear the sound of a machine, likely a vacuum cleaner, somewhere off the upstairs hall, and in one bedroom they saw a long electrical cord plugged in and running to another room. Elijah hoped the cleaning was about finished and he moved to talk to the worker.

A man appeared at the doorway, gun in hand and fired rapidly at Elijah at least three times as the Original twisted to one side.

 _A/N Did Elijah turn fast enough to avoid being wounded? Who did the bullets hit? The next chapter should be ready in a week._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Caroline screamed as she saw blood spurt from the side of the Original's neck. Even before Elijah fell to the floor, Damon moved in a blur toward the shooter. Another shot rang out, but he was already at the man and with an iron grip around the barrel, he yanked the pistol from the man's hand. Then, with bared fangs he slashed his throat and crushed his windpipe.

Stefan had grabbed Caroline and positioned himself in front of her. She peeked around his shoulders and saw the man, twitching and writhing on the floor, bleeding to death and strangling on blood in his torn trachea. Damon turned, threw the weapon onto a chair, and hurried toward Elijah, who now lay on his back .

Caroline moved to him also, kneeling by his head. She found that Elijah was unconscious. One of the bullets had hit his head on the left side and blood was welling up in his dark hair. He was also bleeding heavily from a nasty wound on the left side of his neck and his open jacket revealed his shirt stained by a wound on the left side of his chest. She felt horror and near-panic. Was Elijah going to die? Wasn't it said that the Originals could not be killed, not like a normal vampire could be?

While Stefan watched to be sure the shooter was dying, Damon knelt at the left side of their fallen companion where he quickly assessed the wounds. He probed the head wound, bleeding heavily, and said, "Shallow scalp wound. It'll heal quickly."

He pulled loose Elijah's tie, undid the collar of his shirt, and then probed the neck wound. He told Caroline, who was in tears, "Bad as it looks, this will heal. The bullet ripped the carotid artery and passed on out, but see how the spurting has stopped? His heart has stopped, but that's not a problem unless the other bullet is in it." Damon did not tell her that the bullet, if from the special white oak, really could kill Elijah if it was in his heart.

She nodded, relieved to hear Damon's words. She also tried to ignore the shooter's blood on Damon's mouth, face and jacket. She didn't look at the shooter, who was no longer making a sound.

Damon tore part of Elijah's expensive shirt to check the next wound. The third bullet had grazed Elijah's left ribs and Damon's probing finger felt it under some muscle. It had not entered his chest at all. He dug a finger deep into the flesh and managed to scoop out the bullet which he thought was a nine millimeter. He knew white oak when he saw it and this looked instead to be some sort of hard dark wood. He held it up to show both Stefan and Caroline. There was no other chest wound, so he knew no bullet had gone to the Original's heart.

He sat back on his heels and took a painful breath. Stefan came to him and knelt down, pulling aside Damon's jacket.

"You took one. Where'd the bullet go?"

"Somewhere around my spleen, I think," the older brother said, now more aware of his own pain. The wound leaked blood that ran down his shirt and then into his jeans. Both brothers knew the spleen was an organ full of blood and when torn, bled profusely.

"Lie down," Stefan said.

"I'll be alright," Damon fussed, although he didn't feel alright and didn't try to stand up.

"Lie down!" Stefan ordered, taking his brother's left arm and pushing him sideways. Damon fell over and turned onto his back with a groan and a grimace, and pressed his bloody hand to his abdomen.

"Is there any vervain on the bullet?" Stefan asked.

"No. Doesn't feel like it. Any sign of anyone else in the house?" The older brother worried there might be another armed man.

Stefan went to the electric cord and yanked it from the outlet. He listened in the silence. "I don't hear anyone," Stefan said after a moment. "Rest."

Trembling like a leaf, Caroline continued to kneel by Elijah's head. Her heart was pounding and she felt nauseated. She did not want her breakfast to come up. She started to reach out to brush his messed hair from his forehead, but her hand was shaking so badly, she pulled it back and pressed it against her abdomen. It was so shocking to see blood from his head and neck spattered and pooled on the bedroom carpet. It was frightening to see his face, pale because he was not breathing, and Damon had said his heart was not beating. Actually, he was dead! But, no, because he was a vampire and they were supposedly dead, in a way, but also alive, in a way.

 _I really made love with a dead man!_ she thought with alarm. It was the first time that she truly acknowledged that he was one of those who had died and was now undead, a creature of the night. Prior to this thought, she had somehow felt he was human, special, but human. He looked human; he felt human; he sounded human. He went out in the daylight like a human. But he was not human!

She also looked at Damon lying beside Elijah. As far as she could tell, he was conscious and in pain. He too looked pale and as she stared at his chest, she realized that he was not breathing. Since he was awake, why wasn't he breathing?

"Why isn't Damon breathing?" she whispered to Stefan.

"He stopped his heart to reduce the bleeding," the younger brother said. "He doesn't need to breath unless he has something to say. And he _isn't_ going to say anything." This last he said firmly and it was directed at Damon, who gritted his teeth and briefly closed his eyes.

Caroline glanced at the doorway where the shooter had died in his own blood, now pooled and splattered about. The cleaning people needed to come back.

"What about the bullet?" she asked, nodding toward Damon.

"Some day it will work it's way out. Or we can cut it out if he doesn't stop bleeding. It's a wooden bullet and wood is bad for us vampires, but we'll survive if it isn't in or against our heart. Don't worry."

They went silent and watched the two wounded men, waiting for enough healing to take place. Still in shock, Caroline stayed where she was near the motionless Original while Stefan, alert for more danger, stood near Damon. To her, it was an almost surreal scene.

A cell phoned buzzed and for a moment they all tried to figure out whose it was. It was Elijah's. Stefan located it and noted the caller I.D. "Hello, Klaus," he said. He turned on the speaker so that the others could easily hear.

"Who the hell…? Stefan?" came Klaus' voice.

"Yup."

"Where's Elijah?"

"He's indisposed at the moment."

"Indisposed? Like in the loo? Or being held captive?"

"No. Like unconscious."

There was a moment's silence. "You better have a good explanation, love," the voice came, soft and threatening now.

"He's been shot, Klaus. I'm sure he'll be alright in a short while. One of the men on the cleaning team shot him with an automatic pistol. Three wounds. The one that thumped him on the head knocked him out.

Klaus swore for a moment, then asked, "What kind of bullets?"

"Not the kind that would kill him. Damon dug one of the slugs out and it's plain wood."

"I see. Damon's there?"

"Yeah. He's shot, too. More serious, but he's improving. Look, Klaus, how about Elijah calls you back when he wakes up?"

"If he doesn't wake soon, call me back with a report," the Original ordered and he ended the call. Stefan stared at the phone with annoyance and turned it off. He put it back in Elijah's pocket.

Caroline said nothing, but she didn't like the tone of Klaus' voice. From what she had heard, he was a very nasty and dangerous man…vampire...vampire/werewolf. And of course he was upset about Elijah being injured. They were brothers.

Elijah woke in pain, but he didn't move a muscle. His head hurt and he could not recall what had happened or where he was. For all he knew, he could be surrounded by enemies. So, he lay still and listened. He could easily hear breathing and a human heart beating fairly quickly. He also heard a slower heartbeat, someone not upset and who could even be a vampire. What had happened to him? He was sure he had been wounded, but he wasn't sure whether he had been knifed, shot, bitten or in an accident.

Very slowly he inhaled a small amount of air into his nose. There was the strong scent of blood, a lot of blood. Some of it had to be his own. He also smelled the fear of a human woman and the faint smell of vampire. And disinfectant. He opened his eyes just enough to look out through his eye lashes. He was in a building. The woman was by his head. Caroline, he suddenly recalled.

"Elijah, are you awake?" someone asked and he recognized the voice of Stefan Salvatore.

The Original took a deep breath and started his heart. "I seem to be," he muttered.

"Good. You were shot and you're healing," Stefan said, still standing nearby. "Rest for a few more minutes."

"I'm confused about what happened. Who shot me?" Elijah didn't move because he had some vertigo and the room seemed to be tilting. He listened while Stefan explained. He finally moved his head slightly to look again at Caroline. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yes. I'm fine, except for being so shaken up by what happened."

"Ask me if I'm fine," came Damon's voice off to Elijah's left side.

The Original turned his head, winced at the soreness, and found Damon lying nearby. "Were you wounded, too?"

"No, I just like to lie around on the floor," he snarked.

"I see. How bad is it?"

"Spleen, I think. Hurts like hell. How are you doing?"

"I certainly have felt better," Elijah sighed. He raise his left hand and felt the side of his neck. The area was very sore, but the wound was closed. His fingers came away bloody. He didn't bother to touch the other two wounds, knowing they were healing also.

"Klaus called. Call him back when you feel up to it," Stefan said.

Elijah carefully nodded. After several minutes, he raised an arm toward Stefan, who grasped the hand and helped him sit up. He looked around and saw the situation. "Damn. I'll have to call the cleaners back."

"Do you know the man who shot you?" Stefan asked.

"I may. I don't recall at the moment," Elijah admitted. "My head is spinning and I don't seem to be thinking clearly."

"You may have a cracked skull, but the bullet didn't enter your head," Damon assured him.

Elijah looked at his clothes and the abundant blood. His stomach knotted and he felt nausea, but he showed no outward sign of this reaction. For centuries the sight of blood on his skin and clothing had caused a flood of disgust and fear and even grief, and yet he had not known the cause of his emotions. Still, he had killed thousands, getting their blood on him, and he had stifled the reaction and hidden it. It was not until recently that his revitalized mother had revealed to him the cause, that he had killed someone dear to him.

"Another suit ruined," he muttered. He had no idea how many decent and fashionable outfits he had ruined with fights and blood over the centuries.

"You ought to wear cheaper clothes, dude," Damon told him. He himself had damaged the Original's clothes more than once and he knew the man traveled with several changes of clothing.

Elijah patted his pockets until he found his cell phone. After thinking for a minute, he managed to call the cleaning company and talked to the person who answered the phone. He requested more clean-up and also remembered to ask about the man who had shot him. When he removed the phone from his ear, he saw that it was now bloody and he muttered a curse.

"So, who's the guy?" Damon asked, still lying flat on the floor.

"George Warden. The name means nothing to me," Elijah admitted. "The man with whom I spoke didn't know why George would shoot me."

"Chances are you killed some member of his family or a pal," Damon reasoned. It was a common occurrence.

"Possibly. I can research the name when I feel stronger. I don't see that it matters at the moment." He then phoned his brother.

"I'm going to be fine, Niklaus. Don't worry," he said, but his words were a little slurred for a moment as he felt dizzy again. "Yeah, I'll call you back soon."

Caroline, now sitting on the floor by Elijah's right side, noticed that he was speaking less precisely, using more contractions and almost an American accent. She wondered if it was because of the injuries and his stated confusion. She also wondered if speaking precisely was more natural for him or if he was also used to speaking regular American English. How many languages and accents did he know? A lot, probably. Not that it mattered, although she loved the precise way he usually spoke. It fit his image.

 _A/N For those of you who figured Elijah got shot, you were right. He was taken by surprise. Caroline is certainly learning a thing or two about the messy world of vampires. Thanks for reading, guys._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Stefan leaned down and helped Damon sit up. The older brother groaned and swore at the pain. He pressed a hand to his left side.

"I left some clothing here," Elijah said after some thought. "If I find something to wear, I might as well shower here."

"Will there be any hot water?" Caroline asked, remembering the nice hot shower she had shared with him the eve before.

"It matters not," Elijah said. He managed to get up and swayed unsteadily. "For most of my life I have washed in cold water."

Stefan reached out to help him, grasped an arm momentarily and then let go. "Let Caroline come with you. Just in case."

"Caroline, go with him. But no hanky-panky, guys," Damon ordered.

Elijah didn't object as he slowly made his way to the door to the hall and the woman lightly took hold of his right arm above his elbow. He led the way to a different bedroom, a room that had been nicely cleaned.

"This is your room?" Caroline asked, looking around in the dim light coming from outside. It was a big room with heavy furniture and three small rugs over the polished hardwood floor.

"Yes. Please close the drapes for me," the Original said, closing the door and flipping on the light switch.

Caroline saw that there were French doors out to a small balcony, plus a window on each side. She went to them and looked out momentarily. The snowfall seemed to have almost stopped, but the sky was still heavy with dark clouds. She pulled the lined drapes closed and turned to watch Elijah open an ornate armoire. She was surprised to see that he chose a pair of neat blue jeans and then a blue button-up shirt. From a dresser, he took clean underwear.

"How long do you keep clothes here?" she asked. "I mean, if you live in New Orleans, why not take all your clothes there?"

"Old habit, keeping clothing here and there," he said as he shrugged out of his ruined suit jacket and tie, which he carefully put into a trash basket, trying not to get blood on anything else.

"If something can be cleaned, do you save it?" she asked, wondering how much nice clothing he just tossed away.

"Sometimes. I also donate some clothing," he told her as he emptied his pockets, removed his belt and proceeded to undress.

"Do you want me to wait outside?"

"That hardly seems necessary, considering that we have already spent time together in a state of undress," he said with a faint hint of a smile. When he removed the trousers, he spent a moment examining them for blood or damage. "These few spots of blood can be removed, I think, so I won't throw these pants away."

"A donation?"

"Why not?" he said as he finished undressing. Naked, he walked into the bathroom and turned on another light.

Caroline followed him, looking at the clotted and smeared blood in his dark hair and all around his neck, upper back and shoulder. A nasty bruise showed over his left ribs. She was also seeing him for the first time in good lighting and she marveled at the fact that he could pass for any human male with a well-built body. There was a shower stall and he stepped into it, closing the glass door. When he turned on the water, Caroline decided she was not going to watch him scrub himself down, so she went back into the bedroom.

As she sat thinking and trying to calm her nerves it occurred to her that at least two of the bullets fired at Elijah had passed through his flesh and out again. If she had been standing right behind him, she might have been hit, even killed! And considering that she had a bit of vampire blood in her from the day before, she might have risen from death as a vampire herself!

 _Wasn't that what Elijah said? That there was no danger to swallowing some of his blood as long as I didn't die in the next 24 hours?_ she thought. A shudder ran through her body. She had come close. She liked studying about vampires, but she didn't want to become one.

Elijah found that there was some hot water and he relished bathing in it. He had to shampoo his hair twice to get out the blood and there was pain in doing that. His neck was also very sore as he scrubbed it with soap on a wash cloth. He didn't dwell on what could have happened to his face if he had been shot there, but he recalled seeing a vampire with such an injury and the fellow had permanently lost an eye. A damaged organ could re-grow, repairing itself, but an organ completely gone was usually lost forever unless it was immediately reattached. Ripping out a vampire's heart caused death, for instance.

Like his head and neck, his bruised rib was also very sore. It seemed a miracle that his attacker had missed putting a bullet into his torso. Instead, it was Damon who had an abdominal wound. Elijah had no memory of the actual shooting, although he recalled seeing the man's face and the gun for a split second. In a way, he found fault with himself for not reacting fast enough to avoid being shot at all. He had to admit that he had been taken by surprise and had been careless. His attacker must have been taken by surprise also, or he would have made at least one of the three shots hit something vital.

He continued to wash the rest of the front of his body, all the time thinking about what had happened. He thought about Caroline and wondered how close to being shot she had come. Not that it mattered. It had not happened and there was no sense dwelling on that. Using a bath brush, he then scrubbed his back, hoping to get all the blood off.

When he thought he was clean, he stepped from the shower stall, dried the front of his body and wrapped the towel around his hips.

"Caroline, are you still there?" he asked.

"I'm right here. Can I do something for you?"

"Yes. Come check my back and see if I removed all the blood."

"That sounds like a 'come on.' Are you standing there naked playing with yourself?"

"Caroline! You shock me," he said with a small smile. "No. I'm wearing a towel." He was pleased that her sense of humor was still there. He was half-way tempted to let the towel fall, but he stifled the urge.

Caroline came to the open door and looked at him, making sure he was as he claimed. He was facing her, but he turned his back to her.

"Did I remove all the blood from my back?"

"I see one area that you missed," she said and she moved close to him. "Where's your wash cloth?"

"Just inside the shower door."

In a moment she was using the damp cloth to scrub an area that was still bloody, although the shower had washed almost all of it away. "That bruise over your ribs is awful," she commented. "It must be sore." The skin on the side of his neck also looked painful. It didn't occur to her to look to see if he had lost any hair from his head from the third wound. Actually, his scalp had healed already and he was not missing any hair.

"It will be sore for a short while. It will fade. Thank you." He then headed for the bedroom, followed by this woman he considered to be brave and strong. Things frightened her, but she managed to keep from complete panic. He liked strong women.

Caroline did not watch him dress. She studied where a couple of paintings no longer hung. "What are the chances of getting the pictures back?"

"Unlikely, but possible. We can spread the word that we want them back. People talk," he said.

When she did look at him after hearing the sound of the zipper, he was wearing the jeans and the shirt, and he was sitting on a chair pulling on clean socks. When he stood up and slipped his feet into his shoes, she thought he looked even more human than before. When he had combed his hair, he looked downright handsome. He reached for his leather belt and threaded it through the loops of his jeans. From the armoire he took a sport coat and slipped it on. No tie. He picked up the various items he had removed from his other pockets and stuffed them in new ones.

"Let me call Niklaus before he gets too impatient," he said. He sat down to make the call and this time told his brother that the cleaning crew had done a good job, but had to come back. He reassured Klaus that he was healing just fine. The call was ended.

"Alright. Let us go see how Damon is doing," he said, standing up, and he led the way from the room, turning out the light as he went.

They found the brothers downstairs in the living room, sipping some liquor they had found in a half-empty bottle. Damon did not look well, but he seemed to be recovered enough to be up and about. His hair was wet because he had made some attempt to wash the shooter's blood from his hair, face and neck. His clothes were still a mess, both from the shooter's blood and from his own.

"You and I need some proper food," he said, eyeing Elijah. "Probably you more than me."

"I could use some," the Original agreed. He felt a certain weakness that he found more annoying than worrisome.

It took a moment for Caroline to realize that they meant blood, and probably fresh blood. A shiver ran down her back. She was the only living human present.

"Are you thinking I'm the buffet?" she asked cautiously. Surely hungry vampires were more dangerous than non-hungry ones. She looked from one man to the other.

"Actually, I need very little," Damon told her. "My bleeding was mostly into my belly and my body has absorbed the blood back into my veins. Elijah's the one needing more."

She looked at the Original and found his dark eyes steady on her. Her stomach knotted with new anxiety. He had lost quite a bit, indeed. If he replaced it and took even more, would he put her into shock? What if he ripped open her neck like Damon did to the man lying in the doorway?

"Caroline, I do need some of your blood. I would not take enough to cause you harm," Elijah said. "It would be no worse than giving blood at a blood bank."

"I don't want my neck torn open," she said in a hushed voice and putting her hands protectively to her neck. She realized she was not telling him no. What good would that do?

"I would not tear any of your lovely flesh. A puncture into a vein or artery in your arm would suffice." His voice was calm and reassuring as he tried to hide the fact that he was really lusting after her blood. He felt his teeth wanting to become sharp fangs. In fact, he also felt the vague tingle of the vampire veins begin to creep along his facial skin. In his present condition he didn't have full control over the change. Caroline could see that. Her expression became more alarm as she stared at him.

It was Damon who spoke up, seeing Elijah's need. "Caroline, pull up the sleeve of your sweater and hold your arm out. Offer it to him and you won't be injured. Do it now."

She wore her wrist watch on her right arm, so, fearful, but hoping for the best, she pulled up the sleeve on her left arm, exposing her wrist, and held it out toward the Original. He practically leaped at it. Glimpsing his fangs as he opened his mouth, she closed her eyes. She felt him grab her arm in an iron grip and push her sleeve up farther. In a moment there was the stinging pain of the sharp fangs going into her soft flesh at the bend of her elbow and she gasped. It was barely worse than when he had raked her skin with those same fangs the evening before, but this time the wounds were deeper. It didn't feel good and she gritted her teeth. How did he know exactly where the blood vessels were? Did it matter to him if he hit a vein or an artery?

It did matter to Elijah. He wanted arterial blood and he knew where the artery was. His fangs actually had a shallow groove in the backside and the hot blood spurted up into his mouth. He swallowed hungrily as the human blood went to his stomach and to his blood stream. Almost in ecstasy, he swallowed again and again.

 _A/N I think this Caroline is learning a whole lot more about vampires than she ever would have in school. Needless to say, she is also drawn to Elijah in several ways. Hope you liked this chapter._


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Elijah was aware of the amount he was taking. Although he would have taken more if he had not cared about Caroline, he forced himself to stop and let his tongue clean her skin. Before he lifted his head from her arm, he made sure the fangs had retracted and his face had cleared of the dark veins. He didn't want to look ugly and beastly. Not in front of her.

Caroline opened her eyes as he let go of her arm. She saw that his face looked normal, except for some blood on his lips and he was licking that off. She looked at her arm and saw the two puncture marks, which were not bleeding. She also saw the red marks where he had strongly gripped her arm. Would she have bruises?

"Thank you, Caroline. That really helped me to heal and regain my strength," Elijah told her. "You let me do it without my trying to compel you. You're a brave woman."

"You said you needed it."

"Do you feel at all light-headed? Perhaps you should sit down for a few minutes," the Original said.

"I'm alright. Really. I've given blood before and it never bothered me." She glanced at Damon, wondering if he was going to demand some of her blood, too. She hoped not.

Damon did want some fresh blood, but he resisted asking her for it, suspecting Elijah had taken all she could safely give. He had lost very little blood to the outside of his body, but he had quite a bit of pain. Caroline's blood would have eased that. Instead, he turned to his brother.

"Let me have a little," he muttered.

Stefan didn't argue about the demand, but instead pulled up his jacket sleeve and offered his wrist. Damon didn't face Caroline as he let his face change and the fangs come down. He held onto the arm and drove the fangs into the small radial artery at the wrist. Stefan's blood was cool and tasted different from what Caroline's would have tasted like, but it offered more strength and healing power, and Damon took less. Although his pain didn't go away entirely, it was much less sharp.

They heard someone open the front door, and it turned out to be two men from the clean-up crew. Elijah briefly told them what had happened and they said they would take care of it. They had no clue why the man upstairs had shot Elijah.

"Let us get out of here," Elijah said to his group. They gathered their coats and headed out to the big pickup truck. Only light snow was falling now from the clouds that seemed to be moving along fairly quickly. The drive to the Salvatore house took a couple of minutes and the four of them went back inside. The house had cooled down somewhat, but it was not cold. They ended up in the kitchen where they made fresh cups of coffee. This time Caroline had a cup of tea.

While the coffee was perking, Damon went to his room and changed clothes. The incident at the mansion had been troubling, but it was only one more things to happen in this town fraught with danger. He was so used to danger that he became bored when nothing was happening. He had spent one calm summer with his love Elena Gilbert, but she was "dead" in her coffin. He had had no real rest and relaxation since then, but even still, he thought a lot about that time and it made him feel good. Aside from getting shot, he liked the excitement of having Elijah visiting along with his problems. At least they were different from the business with the Heretics.

"I thought I would be returning to New Orleans today, but perhaps I should stay to figure out what to do about the occurrences," Elijah said, relaxing in his chair.

"Or are you just getting a break for your family's problems?" Damon asked.

"That, too."

Caroline was pleased to hear that he was staying, but… "I suppose I should be getting home myself. In the light of day, it doesn't seem so scary."

"You need to get your car back," Elijah reminded her. He turned to Damon and asked where the car would be after it was towed from the roadside.

"There's only one towing company in Mystic Falls and another one closer to the highway," Damon answered and he pulled out his phone. In a couple of minutes he found out where the car was. "I can drive you over there," he told her.

"Doesn't the man who owns that truck need it back?"

"His wife has a car."

"Alright. I'll get my things from my room," the woman said and she left the kitchen and headed for the back stairway.

"I'll come with you," Elijah said to Damon. "I would appreciate it if you could take me to a car rental place. I cannot keep asking you to drive me back and forth."

Damon nodded. Just then the brightness of sunlight came in the kitchen window. He went to the door, opened it and looked out. "Hey, the clouds are breaking up."

Stefan dragged out his phone and checked the weather report. "We're on the backside of that line of storms," he reported. "The weather will clear now. In fact, it looks like warm air will reach us from the south this evening."

"How about Charlottesville?" Elijah asked.

"It looks good. Are you planning to fly out of there?"

"I would prefer to, assuming they will have cleared the runways of snow," Elijah said, nodding.

While they sat there, the electricity came back on and the refrigerator hummed again. It turned out that no one left the house for some time. They chatted and ate lunch put together from the small amount of food that had thawed in the freezer and other stuff that needed to be cooked and eaten. Damon mentioned that he would look for a maid to come and do the cleaning and the laundry. He himself did not intend to clean the bedrooms left messy by the Heretics, not to mention Elijah and Caroline.

By the time all except Stefan climbed into the truck, the sun was shining brightly and trees were dripping melted snow. Damon took Caroline to where her car was.

"If I am still here later, may I call you and take you out to dinner?" Elijah asked her.

Caroline was pleased that he wanted to see her again, even though she knew he would soon be leaving for New Orleans. She agreed to dinner and gave him her phone number and address. "I'll get my phone charged," she promised.

So, they took her to reclaim her vehicle. Damon then drove to a place where Elijah could rent a car. He waited to be sure the Original got a vehicle, which he did, and then he drove to the supermarket to buy groceries and other items that he and Stefan needed.

Elijah spent time at the mansion taking a closer look at the furniture that had been damaged and taking better photographs. The body was gone and the new mess had been cleaned up. He had arranged for someone to be at the house as a temporary caretaker until another couple could be found. He didn't mention that there was the danger of being killed by the Heretics, who were still in several houses in Mystic Falls. Aside from Dodge and Martin, he had not run into anyone else that was a Heretic, as far as he could tell. There was no report that the dead man had been part of that group, but when Elijah talked to the cleaning company again, he found out that the man's father had died, probably killed, directly or indirectly, by one of the Mikaelsons in New Orleans. He was not surprised by this news. A person was killed and the family sometimes sought revenge.

He went into the room he considered his own and went around the bed to look at one of the smaller paintings that was still on the wall. It was a scene from Norway, a rugged coastal area where his mother had claimed to have fallen in love with Mikael, the Viking raider. While Elijah did not care that both Mikael and Esther were now dead, he did like the painting of his family's original homeland. Of course, only Freya and Finn had been born there before Mikael had moved his family to the distant continent that was now called North America.

After studying the picture for a minute, he turned to move toward the French doors to the small balcony. His left foot came down on something under the bedside rug, something that had dropped down the tiniest bit under his weight. He didn't move. Whatever it was, it had not been there before and it did not belong there now. His alarm was due to the fact that it might be one of those explosive devices that went off when his weight was removed from the armed bomb. It was not big or thick, and he had not noticed a lump in the carpet, for he had been looking at the picture. Obviously, it was not one that exploded when weight was put on it, which was a relief. Of course, there was the possibility that one of the cleaners had left something under the carpet and it was not a bomb at all. Maybe.

He didn't think it had been there when he and Caroline had been in the room before, when he had showered and changed clothes, but maybe he was wrong. If it had been there, she might have stepped on it when she was walking around. He wasn't sure she had moved near that spot to look at the picture. It made him feel momentarily nauseated to think she might have been blown up.

So, did that mean the dead shooter had placed it there after the other cleaning crewmen had left and before he had shot him, Elijah? Most likely. If not, then another crewman had put it there. Somehow that did not seem likely. And had the fellow known it was Elijah's room or had he placed the bomb for anyone to step on? If it was a bomb. Maybe his imagination was thinking the worst. Under stress, he felt confusion.

The expensive area rug was six feet long and four feet wide and rested on the hardwood floor. He bent down and carefully grasped the edge and slowly lifted it. He finally saw a flat circle of plastic material. He was more convinced that it was a bomb. The slight lump under his shoe had to be the trigger. What should he do? He could move fast enough to distance himself from the worst of the devastation, but he really didn't want to cause serious damage to the room, much less the house. Or himself.

Another choice was to try to put something heavy on the device besides his own weight. Such a move was tricky and the bedside stand which might have worked, was just out of reach anyway. Who should he call, Damon or the sheriff? He decided to call the lawman, who he was able to reach directly on his phone. Matt Donovan's office did not have a bomb squad, but he knew a couple of retired soldiers who had experience in that area. Elijah told him he wasn't going anywhere and that he would be just standing around waiting for them to come to the house.

While he waited, he phoned his brother and told him the situation. For once, Klaus was speechless.

"If I am destined to be blown to bits, I thought I should let you know this might be the time," Elijah said with the barest hint of humor.

"Just get out of there, brother! I don't care if the damned house gets damaged!"

 _A/N Thanks to you guys who are reading this story. I haven't gotten any reviews lately, but you all are still reading. I appreciate that._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"It's good to hear that you care, Niklaus," Elijah said, holding his phone to his ear.

"Of course I care! Although sometimes I wonder why. You know, if the man who shot you did this, then we have to assume it was you who killed his father."

"I would agree. I'll just stand here until the bomb fellow comes and then decide what to do." He resisted the urge to lift his foot and walk away from the rug. He often moved around when talking on the phone, but now was not a good idea.

"How have you managed to get into such predicaments, Elijah? All you had to do was determine what had happened to our caretakers." Klaus was obviously upset by his brother's dangerous situation and he had to blame someone. Like Elijah himself.

"I believe I did that, Niklaus, but there have been multiple complications. Let us just be thankful that the bomb is not the type to explode the moment one steps on it."

"Of course you're right. Nothing is ever simple, is it?" Klaus fussed.

"Not with our family. Look, if this situation is safely remedied, I shall be flying home tomorrow. I will hire a private jet." He had not forgotten that he had a date with Caroline – if he was still in one piece. Nor did he intend to tell Niklaus about the young woman.

"If not, have one of the Salvatores let me know," Klaus sighed and he hung up.

"Love you, too, brother," Elijah muttered as he put his phone in his pocket. Niklaus was difficult to love, but Elijah did – when he was not hating him. After a minute he then phoned Damon and explained the situation. Damon offered to come right over to try to help, but Elijah told him to stay away. However, he asked that Damon phone Klaus should the worst happen.

Matt Donovan and a man he introduced as Arthur Fleck finally arrived. While Elijah and Fleck insisted Matt stay back in the hall, time was spent on the situation under the Original's foot. Fleck turned out to be very knowledgeable and careful, and after a while Elijah was free and the device was taken outdoors to the large side yard. There it was exploded, causing a hole in the lawn, where the snow was melting away. People in the neighborhood gathered to see what had happened. This included Damon and Stefan, who were relieved to find that Elijah was unharmed, and they then returned home.

Donovan left the premises, but Fleck and Elijah went through the house and discovered no more devices likely to explode.

Later, at the Salvatore house, the Original changed into one of the other suits he had brought. He told Damon and Stefan he was heading to pick up Caroline. On Damon's recommendation, he had made reservations at a nice restaurant at a hotel near the highway. He told the brothers that he didn't know if he would be coming back to the house to sleep.

"Whatever. If not, have fun," Damon said, not really caring, and gave him an extra key to the front door.

"Don't step on any humps under the carpets," Stefan advised. "Just kidding."

Elijah had no trouble finding the house Caroline was renting. It was far enough north of town that the Heretics had shown no interest in the neighborhood. He saw two children playing on the porch next door and decided that Caroline was safe there. In addition, she was attending lectures at the community college which was out east of town, and the resident evils were not bothering it and its students. She should be safe, but he wished she lived in some other town.

He had no intention of telling her about the bomb. It would just upset her, and he wanted her to enjoy the evening. When he rang her doorbell, she answered it with a smile. She was wearing a nice light-blue dress that was low-cut at the bodice, but had long sleeves. Her feet were clad in dressy high-heeled shoes and she wore some jewelry that complimented the dress. In addition, she had applied appropriate make-up and done something nice with her hair. There was no sign of the wound she had sustained at her hairline.

"You look very nice," he told her with a real smile of appreciation as he held her coat for her.

"Why, thank you," she smiled back, thinking he had such good manners. Surely Elijah had to be the epitome of the handsome, suave vampire.

They went to the restaurant where they had drinks and a nice dinner. Caroline found it very intriguing to notice that he really did have a good appetite and consumed a goodly amount of the finely prepared regular food.

"I have a question."

"Oh? What might that be?"

"I probably shouldn't ask. Not at the dinner table, anyway."

"About my food? You have been watching me eat."

Caroline blushed. She then spoke in a hushed voice. "Digestion. For some reason I imagined vam…your kind consuming just blood with probably no 'waste.' But real food…?"

"Blood intake has no waste. Nor does water or black coffee or alcohol. 'Real food' does indeed," Elijah said in an even voice, but hushed, lest their neighbors hear. "As an Original, my kidneys and digestive tract work normally." He was not embarrassed by this answer, but he had no intention of going into details, certainly not in the restaurant.

"Thank you for answering such a personal question," Caroline said, satisfied.

They found that there was a small combo band in the lounge adjacent to the restaurant. Three couples were dancing on the small hardwood floor. Elijah liked that old kind of slow dance music and he asked Caroline to join him. She nodded and took his hand as he led her to the area. At first he did not hold her close against himself, but soon she seemed to make the move herself. He held her as they danced, inhaling the scents of shampoo and a different perfume than the one that had bothered him. And the warm, blood-scent of a human.

It was some time before they left the building and headed for her place. He didn't know if she would invite him in or not. He had really enjoyed her company. For one thing, he didn't mind listening to her talk and watching her expressions. For another thing, she listened to him and encouraged him to talk about places he had been and things he had seen. To her, he was a walking history book.

As he drove, she spoke again, "I told you I read some articles about your family. I believe it was when you all held a ball at your house. Or should I say your brother's house? There was a very nice photograph of all of you standing by the stairway. Do you recall that?"

"Yes. My mother desired we have a grand ball. My four siblings and I were formally dressed for a change. A photographer was there and the formal pictures were taken."

"It's hard to believe all your family were vampires. Surely your mother was not one when she had her children. Aren't females sterile?"

"Yes. My mother was not a vampire. She actually had seven children who lived past infancy. Her oldest, a girl, was kidnapped, but we younger children were told she had died of an illness. Our youngest brother was killed as a child. My mother, who was a powerful witch, cast a spell to make her remaining children immortal, because she could not stand to lose more of us. She was shocked, however, to learn that we had become blood-sucking killers. Feeling that she had made a horrible mistake, she cast another spell, making my father a vampire determined to hunt us all down and kill us."

"She chose in the end to have all her children dead?" Caroline gasped.

"Yes. Neither she nor my father succeeded, obviously, although they certainly tried."

"Then all of you have survived. No, that's not right. You lost two brothers?"

"That's correct. Not all of us are now alive. Mystic Falls is a deadly place, Caroline. Both my older brother Finn and my youngest brother Kol died here. So did each of my parents. Their spirits still exist, but their bodies are gone. Burned to ash."

"Oh, Elijah! That must have been awful. I'm so sorry. But if you all are immortal, how were they killed?"

"We are not entirely immortal, Caroline. I will not go into that, but I will say that there is something out there that can kill each of us, otherwise my father would not have been charged with the task of doing so. He had the means." He did not tell her that he had mixed feelings about the four dead family members. They had had few redeeming qualities and could not be trusted. In fact, no family member could really be trusted.

In a few minutes, he parked in front of her rented house. If she bid him goodnight at her door, it would be alright. Needless to say, he liked sex, but he was not desperate for it. There were long periods when he did not have any. When he was sometimes being too serious and worrying about everything and way too tense, his brother Klaus would tell him he needed to "get some." Occasionally, Elijah did. And although he made no suggestion to Caroline, he rather hoped this night would provide him another opportunity.

 _A/N Looks like I will have one more chapter. Thanks for reading and commenting, guys._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Caroline did invite her companion to stay the night, even though she knew he would rake her shoulder with his fangs. She was alright with that. She also liked that he was careful removing her clothes. When he saw the bruises on her arm, he knew he had put them there and he apologized.

"It's alright. They'll soon fade, of course," she said as she undid his tie and then the buttons of his shirt one by one. Prior to her time with Elijah, she had never been with a man who seemed to enjoy undressing a woman in a slow sensual way. Yes, she already knew he could do it quickly, but that was not the case this night. One garment after another was slipped off and set aside. Neither her dress nor his suit ended up in a heap on the floor. Still, in no time they were both undressed and giving each other passionate kisses and stimulating caresses. There was no way she could ignore that part of him already standing at attention. She touched him there.

"Satisfactory?" he asked her, although he had absolutely no doubt that it was.

"Perfect," she said with a grin, remembering how it had felt when they had been together before.

They got some intimate bedtime exercise and then lay in each other's arms for a while. At some point, Caroline asked, "What are you thinking?"

"That you are wonderfully warm and soft and smell delectable."

"Delectable, huh? You aren't going to run your fangs over me again for another taste of my blood, are you? I love everything you do, except that." She had new marks on her now, but the sting was gone and there was no bleeding.

"I'm sorry. I believe at this point I can make love to you without biting. Would you like me to do that now?"

"No. I am perfectly satisfied right now. Put out the light, please. I'm ready to sleep."

"Actually, I am too," Elijah said, turning off the light. He relished the moment, of being able to spend this time with no danger or threat pressuring him. He had not been this relaxed for some time. In a few minutes, he let himself drift off to sleep.

The next morning they were up just before sunrise. They then showered and dressed. He didn't shave and she asked him how often he did so. He told her vampire beards grew very slowly, and when they were in deep vampire "sleep" there was no growth.

"So, if you went to sleep for a month, when you woke up, you would not have a beard."

"Correct. But I most certainly would have a serious thirst for fresh blood," he said with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

She had to get to her early class and he wanted to check the mansion again, but they had time for breakfast.

"The weather looks good. Warm. It's so weird that the weather patterns can change so quickly," she said after checking the weather on her phone. "I guess you'll be able to drive to Charlottesville with no trouble today. I'll miss you, Elijah. This weekend has been quite an adventure and an education."

"It certainly has been unique," he agreed, sipping his cup of coffee, the only breakfast he wanted.

"I hope you brother's house doesn't get trashed again."

"New caretakers are coming today. They will be armed. One can only hope the Heretics do not harass them. Caroline, I ask you again to please leave Mystic Falls. It is far too dangerous. And what more can you learn about vampires that Damon, Stefan, the Heretics and I have not already taught you?"

"Not much more, I would think. Alright, Elijah, I'll quit the class at the community college and head home. I'll forfeit the rest of the rent I paid for this place, I guess."

"Is this a furnished house?"

"Yes. A few small things are mine. I'll take them home," she said, nodding. Elijah carried quite a bit of cash and he gave her some, insisting she take it to make up for expenses she had already invested in rent and paying for the class she was taking. She half-heartedly refused the money, but let herself be talked into taking it. She needed it and she would be wasting money by quitting class and leaving town.

They talked for a few more minutes and then he prepared to leave. She noted that he made no mention of seeing her again or contacting her. She refrained from mentioning it.

"Ships passing in the night," she sighed as he put his arms around her by the front door.

"Strangers stranded in a snow storm," he said as he lightly kissed her cheek. She now smelled of pancake syrup and none of that perfume that had upset him before.

"This probably sounds silly, but I think you are the perfect gentleman vampire," she admitted, and then she laughed. When he smiled and shook his head, she added, "I told you it was silly."

"You have made this weekend more than it ever would have been, Caroline. Thank you," murmured, kissing her cheek again. Then his lips moved to her mouth. The kiss was gentle and tentative until she put a hand behind his neck and made it into a kiss with more passion.

"You're a nice guy, Elijah," she said when she pulled back. "You better wipe my lipstick off your mouth. Okay. I need to get to class and you have things to do before you leave." She then watched him walk to his vehicle. There was no sense wishing he would stay or that he had fallen in love with her. She knew he had not.

Thinking of the young woman he had just left, Elijah smiled to himself as he drove toward the Salvatore house where his bag was. Fate had smiled on him this weekend.

The weather had not warmed much, but the sky was clear and the road had been scraped clean during the night. No fallen trees had taken down any more power lines. When he let himself into the Salvatore house, he found Damon already in the study, drink in hand. _He drinks too much_ , he thought, although he too was guilty of consuming alcohol at any hour of the day or night. It was common among vampires, since they had a high tolerance for alcohol and a non-existent incidence of liver problems. They could, however, get drunk if they were determined.

He handed over the house key Damon had given him.

"You look like you put your worries aside for a while last night," the younger man teased.

"Dinner. Dancing. Et cetera," Elijah admitted with a slight smile, just a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Congratulations. You are heading for Charlottesville now?"

"I will be at the house for a while, at least until the new caretakers arrive around ten o'clock, and then I will leave. Thank you for your hospitality. And for the rescue."

"Made the weekend interesting. A little painful, but interesting," Damon said, touching his abdomen, which was still sore. "I've got maid service coming today, also. This place needs a good cleaning and there's a lot of laundry to be done. Hopefully, a hoard of Heretics won't descend on this place again."

Elijah went upstairs to collect his bag of things. He stopped at the open door to "Caroline's" room, a slight smile touching the corners of his mouth as he looked at the unmade bed. He would remember his time with her.

Later, he left Mystic Falls and drove to Charlottesville, boarding the private plane and heading south. He was going home to his dysfunctional family and the chronic disasters that surrounded his life in New Orleans.

 _A/N End of story. I hope you all enjoyed reading this brief interlude in Elijah's hectic life. Thanks again for reading and especially thanks to you who commented._


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